Aussies challenged to work, rest... and play

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In an age where healthy lifestyle messages are an important element in food marketing, Mars faced the challenge of to bring to life the 'play' element of the famous Mars tagline, 'Work. Rest. Play' and position itself as a brand that could help inspire Australians to live a more active lifestyle.

Research revealed that one of the major barrier to adult participation in sport is a fear of failure. While children are often happy to give new sporting challenges a go, adults are likely to feel intimidated to try new sports, scared that a lack of skill will lead to embarrassment in front of their peers. Professional sport, with its intention on competition, money and endorsements, added another barrier to amateur participation. Mars opted for a strategy that would put the fun back into sport.

Sports stars out of their depth

Mars commissioned 10 short films featuring Australia's most respected sports stars going head to head with everyday Aussies in a series of sports that neither of them had played before. A well known TV comedian hosted the short films to help dispel any intimidation or seriousness. The idea was to make everyday Australians feel more confident about giving new sports a go themselves, and created unique content with serious sports professionals in a light-hearted context rarely seen in Australian media.

The chance to watch professional sports stars out of their depth produced some entertaining content, to the point where major TV networks were happy to run the content in-programme, in prime time (a rare event for brand funded content in Australia).

The Mars Play Challenges were integrated into prime time sport panel shows, and live sport telecasts across a three month period. Mars partnered with Network Ten to distribute the content online, targeting catch-up TV viewers. The content also received earned media exposure, spreading organically into social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and mobile environments. Mars took the campaign to the next level by giving consumers the tools to get out there and try a new sport. Consumers were able to get hold of 130 000 Mars branded sports balls, suitable for AFL, rugby, soccer and netball. This scheme was leveraged in more than 12 000 retail locations nationally via a combination of Mars packs and in-store displays.

Results

130 000 Mars branded balls were placed into the hands of Australians.

The campaign translated into a sales uplift of 26% year-on-year, dominating the confectionary landscape in Q3 of 2010. This made it the most successful Mars stand alone promotion in history and a permanent fixture within the Mars marketing calendar.

This campaign was highly commended in the 2011 Festival of Media Asia Awards in the 'Best Communication Strategy' category.

This campaign was also highly commended in the 2011 Festival of Media Global Awards in the same category.