Yesterday, Mondelez brand Mr. Big and The Hive kicked off a Spider-Man promotion in advance of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, with a computer game that turns your phone into the controller. This follows a similar play from baseball brand Louisville Slugger and Taxi, which turned a consumer’s phone into a bat, last week.
The game invites users to enter a code into the mobile version of the website on their phones, connecting the computer and handheld device. People are then turned into web-slingers, and have to “save” falling Mr. Big bars from the clutches of villain Electro, who is zapping them away. Players have the chance to win a Sony (which holds the rights to The Amazing Spider-Man) prize pack.
The new push targets 14- to 25-year-old guys, and is a bit of a departure from the brand’s signature use of “big athletes,” says Deborah Lucas, brand manager, countlines [candybars] and pieces, Mondelez.
The brand charged The Hive with finding a “big personality” with whom to partner, and the agency came back with the arachnid-inclined hero as an ideal new spokesman.
“The sports personalities were getting a little tried and true, so it was time to go down a different path to shock the system and spark some new interest,” says Simon Creet, CCO, The Hive. “A lot of the guys in our creative shop are big-time Spider-Man fans or big-time gamers, and [the execution] came about pretty naturally.”
Mr. Big has used sports stars as ambassadors since Wayne Gretzky in the late ’70s, and Lucas says they’re not shifting away from using big athletes entirely to help carry the brand messaging, but instead are opening up to other “big personalities.”
“The resurgence in superheroes is hard to ignore and the brand had the opportunity to be a part of it,” she says. “The audience right now is very interested in graphic novels and the Marvel franchise. So we thought it was right on brand.”
Digital 15-second pre-roll, placed by Jungle Media, and on-pack marketing will help drive towards the game, while also helping the brand stand out on shelf. The promotion will run for the next two months.
