Campaign Overview

To build excitement ahead of the launch of four new Reese’s Pieces flavors in Canada—Cookie Biscuit, Caramel, Chocolate, and Pretzel—Hershey ran a highly engaging, gamified digital promotion that sparked curiosity and competitive energy. The contest, It’s What’s Inside That Counts, invited players to crack open virtual Reese’s Pieces to reveal the new flavors and compete for a spot on the leaderboard.

The top three scorers were awarded exclusive prize packs, giving them a chance to try the new flavors before they became available in stores. This pre-launch teaser created a sense of exclusivity while reinforcing flavor awareness in a playful, memorable way.

Our Solution

Realtime Media partnered with Hershey Canada to bring the concept to life through an interactive game and leaderboard-driven contest.

Our Approach

• Flavor Reveal Gameplay: Through a dedicated promotion microsite developed by Realtime Media, consumers jumped into a fast-paced, flavor-reveal game designed to entertain and reinforce product messaging. Players had 30 seconds to tap and crack open as many virtual Reese’s Pieces as possible, with each one revealing one of the new flavors—creating repeat brand impressions through gameplay.
• Leaderboard Competition: A dynamic leaderboard encouraged competitive spirit, showing users their current rank alongside the top 10 scores. The top 3 at the end of the campaign won exclusive flavor prize packs, featuring the new Reese’s Pieces flavors.
• Zero-Party Data & Social Sharing: The experience included email capture and brief survey questions to collect valuable zero-party data  and strengthen Hershey’s consumer database. A share feature encouraged participants to pass along the promotion to friends and family, helping extend its reach.

Key Benefits

• Built Anticipation Pre-Launch: The contest rewarded top scorers with early access to new Reese’s Pieces flavors, tying the prize directly to product excitement and exclusivity.
• Drove Re-Engagement Through Gamification: The competitive leaderboard and time-based challenge spurred over 25,000 total game plays—half of which came from returning users, highlighting strong re-engagement.
• Peer-Driven Participation: Nearly 30% of total registrations came from shared links, demonstrating how compelling game mechanics can motivate participants to engage others and expand campaign reach through word of mouth.

Interested in learning more about how we can help with your next Digital Promotion? Get in touch with us today!