2022 Winner
SilverBest in Social Media
The Hershey Company (Oh Henry!)
"Level Up - Livestream
Snacking Showdown"
UM, Reprise, Anomaly, Twitch
"Level Up - Livestream
Snacking Showdown"
UM, Reprise, Anomaly, Twitch
OH Henry!’s vision is to become “the” hunger authority for millennials. Anytime and anywhere mindless snacking is involved, there is a place for OH Henry!.
Gamers are an increasingly influential and sizeable consumer audience. Over 23 million people in Canada identify as gamers, logging an average of 10 hours of gameplay per week. It turns out that Canada also has one of the largest per capita populations of video game players in the world.
This new audience presented a new opportunity to tackle for OH Henry!, which, for years, has positioned itself as the antidote for millennials’ hunger cravings. So as gaming exploded, the perfect match for mindless snacking, OH Henry! got ready to play.
The challenge? The brand was seen as that nostalgic snack that “my dad loves” and is still on a journey of transforming into a brand that “my buddies and I eat.”
The solution? Introducing OH Henry! Level Up, an irresistible sweet-salty snack designed to meet the snacking needs of energy-starved gamers, and packed with hunger-conquering, game fueling ingredients: crunchy pretzels, smooth peanut butter, salty almonds, sweet caramel,
all coated by milk chocolate.
The brand’s promise was to help gamers level up, both inside and outside the game. However, you can’t just declare yourself a gaming brand and expect instant credibility. So, OH Henry! doubled down on its commitment to help millennials up their game and forged a partnership with NBA2K, the undisputed leader in cutting edge basketball video games and an integral part of basketball culture.
OH Henry!’s goal was to drive sales, strengthen engagement and build brand equity among this millennial online community. However, to turn this group into true believers and drive action, the brand would need to do more.
OH Henry! Level Up developed a bold and innovative media approach, launching an industry first. Each Level Up bar included a unique PIN number inside the wrapper, redeemable for a free locker code in NBA2K, so gamers could, literally, level up their gameplay skills. Each bar would provide $1 of XP (experience points) to redeem in-game so players could personally raise the bar.
Then, OH Henry! brought a whole new level of “wow.” It recruited Canadian NBA superstar Jamal Murray and Canadian NBA2K pro-streamer TroyDan, who invited the gaming community to participate in a once in a lifetime, groundbreaking Twitch livestream throwdown with the two basketball celebrities. The partnership was crafted to boost brand awareness and drive association of Oh Henry! Level Up and NBA2K.
TroyDan hosted a Level Up-branded, Twitch live stream event on his channel, where he and Jamal played against each other, demonstrated how to redeem the OH Henry! Level Up code and played against fans, inviting them to try and dunk on NBA superstar, Jamal.
When gamers got dunked on during the live stream, the stars encouraged the players to buy OH Henry! Level Up and redeem the code to boost their in-game skills. Players shared comments on the Twitch streaming chat, trading barbs and words of encouragement.
Custom-built branded overlays in the stream background, frequent brand mentions demonstrating product benefits, and in-game branded media drove further awareness and association. The campaign also activated in-game branded media within NBA 2K21 as an additional touchpoint to deepen connection with the gaming community and drive brand awareness among users in the game looking to play 1:1 against Jamal Murray.
OH Henry! Level Up extended the partnership by featuring Jamal in real life and as his avatar in NBA2K21 on paid OLV and social media, including Twitter, amplified before and after the event.
Media was targeted to millennial gamers, complemented by layered interest targeting on Facebook/Instagram, also leveraging relevant gamer psychographics and geo-fencing tactics around key retailers, including EB Games stores.
This highly-unique campaign was the first time that any confectionary brand had ever tried to use a media strategy that combined video game code redemption, social media and a live-stream event to drive sales and brand equity.
This bold, new form of instant gratification media played a critical role in validating and legitimizing OH Henry! Level Up’s entry in the gaming universe, a world populated by advertising skeptics, who demand 100% authenticity from any brand stepping into the gaming arena.
Level Up’s unique Twitch partnership transformed an intriguing tangible benefit (in-game skills) into an exciting, one-of-a-kind, live stream experience (real life thrills). Specifically, gamers were invited to the event, and challenged through pre-event hype on Instagram and Twitter to tune into the stream for their chance to play 1:1 with Jamal Murray.
This pioneering media approach was exactly the kind of breakthrough experience that was needed to draw in and grab the attention of the millennial gamer community and help build affinity for the OH Henry! Level Up brand.
OH Henry! Level Up stepped up, conquered the gaming hunger bar challenge, extended its reach to an important new audience, and won over the gaming community.
The industry-first combination of on-pack code redemption, NBA2K partnership, a star-studded NBA/pro-streamer live experience, plus a hyper-engaged gaming community blew brand performance benchmarks out of the water.
OH Henry! Level Up’s live stream “snacking showdown” campaign proved that it had game: it generated a huge consumer response, including strong lifts in sales and brand equity; drove outstanding redemption performance; and created extraordinary millennial gamer engagement. Oh Henry! Level Up’s brilliant activation delivered tasty ROI and slam dunked its way into the hearts and hands of hungry millennial gaming fans.
Gamers are an increasingly influential and sizeable consumer audience. Over 23 million people in Canada identify as gamers, logging an average of 10 hours of gameplay per week. It turns out that Canada also has one of the largest per capita populations of video game players in the world.
This new audience presented a new opportunity to tackle for OH Henry!, which, for years, has positioned itself as the antidote for millennials’ hunger cravings. So as gaming exploded, the perfect match for mindless snacking, OH Henry! got ready to play.
The challenge? The brand was seen as that nostalgic snack that “my dad loves” and is still on a journey of transforming into a brand that “my buddies and I eat.”
The solution? Introducing OH Henry! Level Up, an irresistible sweet-salty snack designed to meet the snacking needs of energy-starved gamers, and packed with hunger-conquering, game fueling ingredients: crunchy pretzels, smooth peanut butter, salty almonds, sweet caramel,
all coated by milk chocolate.
The brand’s promise was to help gamers level up, both inside and outside the game. However, you can’t just declare yourself a gaming brand and expect instant credibility. So, OH Henry! doubled down on its commitment to help millennials up their game and forged a partnership with NBA2K, the undisputed leader in cutting edge basketball video games and an integral part of basketball culture.
OH Henry!’s goal was to drive sales, strengthen engagement and build brand equity among this millennial online community. However, to turn this group into true believers and drive action, the brand would need to do more.
OH Henry! Level Up developed a bold and innovative media approach, launching an industry first. Each Level Up bar included a unique PIN number inside the wrapper, redeemable for a free locker code in NBA2K, so gamers could, literally, level up their gameplay skills. Each bar would provide $1 of XP (experience points) to redeem in-game so players could personally raise the bar.
Then, OH Henry! brought a whole new level of “wow.” It recruited Canadian NBA superstar Jamal Murray and Canadian NBA2K pro-streamer TroyDan, who invited the gaming community to participate in a once in a lifetime, groundbreaking Twitch livestream throwdown with the two basketball celebrities. The partnership was crafted to boost brand awareness and drive association of Oh Henry! Level Up and NBA2K.
TroyDan hosted a Level Up-branded, Twitch live stream event on his channel, where he and Jamal played against each other, demonstrated how to redeem the OH Henry! Level Up code and played against fans, inviting them to try and dunk on NBA superstar, Jamal.
When gamers got dunked on during the live stream, the stars encouraged the players to buy OH Henry! Level Up and redeem the code to boost their in-game skills. Players shared comments on the Twitch streaming chat, trading barbs and words of encouragement.
Custom-built branded overlays in the stream background, frequent brand mentions demonstrating product benefits, and in-game branded media drove further awareness and association. The campaign also activated in-game branded media within NBA 2K21 as an additional touchpoint to deepen connection with the gaming community and drive brand awareness among users in the game looking to play 1:1 against Jamal Murray.
OH Henry! Level Up extended the partnership by featuring Jamal in real life and as his avatar in NBA2K21 on paid OLV and social media, including Twitter, amplified before and after the event.
Media was targeted to millennial gamers, complemented by layered interest targeting on Facebook/Instagram, also leveraging relevant gamer psychographics and geo-fencing tactics around key retailers, including EB Games stores.
This highly-unique campaign was the first time that any confectionary brand had ever tried to use a media strategy that combined video game code redemption, social media and a live-stream event to drive sales and brand equity.
This bold, new form of instant gratification media played a critical role in validating and legitimizing OH Henry! Level Up’s entry in the gaming universe, a world populated by advertising skeptics, who demand 100% authenticity from any brand stepping into the gaming arena.
Level Up’s unique Twitch partnership transformed an intriguing tangible benefit (in-game skills) into an exciting, one-of-a-kind, live stream experience (real life thrills). Specifically, gamers were invited to the event, and challenged through pre-event hype on Instagram and Twitter to tune into the stream for their chance to play 1:1 with Jamal Murray.
This pioneering media approach was exactly the kind of breakthrough experience that was needed to draw in and grab the attention of the millennial gamer community and help build affinity for the OH Henry! Level Up brand.
OH Henry! Level Up stepped up, conquered the gaming hunger bar challenge, extended its reach to an important new audience, and won over the gaming community.
The industry-first combination of on-pack code redemption, NBA2K partnership, a star-studded NBA/pro-streamer live experience, plus a hyper-engaged gaming community blew brand performance benchmarks out of the water.
OH Henry! Level Up’s live stream “snacking showdown” campaign proved that it had game: it generated a huge consumer response, including strong lifts in sales and brand equity; drove outstanding redemption performance; and created extraordinary millennial gamer engagement. Oh Henry! Level Up’s brilliant activation delivered tasty ROI and slam dunked its way into the hearts and hands of hungry millennial gaming fans.
Credits
HERSHEYSenior Marketing Director, Jackson Hitchon
Senior Marketing Manager, Reese/Oh Henry/Snackfection, Mathieu Gamache
Marketing Manager, Oh Henry/Snackfection, Alejandro Mosquera
Assistant Marketing Manager, Oh Henry/Snackfection, Ean Staalduinen
UM
VP, Client Business Partner, Kate Mateer
Senior Director, Joanna Janisse
Director, Connections Planning, Ratna Shankar
Supervisor, Connections Planning, Brooke Goldenberg
REPRISE
Director, Digital Strategy, Pierre Babineu
Senior Strategist, Maeve Findlay Shields
Associate Director, Content & Production, Samantha Tenus
Associate Director, Ajoy Lobo
Campaign Manager, Sarranya Surendran
MATTERKIND
Associate Director, Addressable Strategy, Craig Kelly
Associate, Addressable Activation, Vlad Genov
ANOMALY
Executive Creative Director / Partner, Pete Breton
Associate Creative Director, Marko Pandza
Associate Creative Director, Jason Kerr
Art Director, Claire Barnette
Writer, Greg Seles
President, Managing Partner, Candace Borland
Head of Client Services, Bryden McDonald
Business Director, Erin Wilbur
Account Executive, Lauren Zaitz
Account Supervisor, Rhiannon Enss
Account Supervisor, Carly Watson
Strategy Director, Joshua Crost
Agency Producer, Martina Esguerra
Director of Social Media, Jennifer Stack
Director of Photography / Editor, Christian Flook
Post Production Producer, Jo-Ann Cook
Music Producer, Rocco Gagliese
Music Executive Producer, Nicola Treadgold
Sound Engineer, Nathan Handy
Sound Engineer, Dan Horton
AMAZON
Team Lead, CPG, Dean Hayward
Head of Sales, Christopher Walton
Senior Account Manager, Asher Packard