'Halloween Treats Gone Wrong' was the outgrowth of a simple, powerful marketing strategy, whose objective was to drive sales through a coupon CTA. That strategy centered around the notion, “This Halloween, have all the candy you want. Because Crest and Oral-B have you covered.” It was relevant to both products because it stated in no uncertain terms that they’re so good at fighting cavities the other 364 days of the year that you can relax and indulge in eating all the candy that you want on Halloween. This initiative was targeted to both existing and new customers.

As the topic was Halloween and candy, the video was relevant as it leveraged an essential truth: there’s always one house on the block that gives kids healthy treats like carrots instead of candy—which kids always hate. And by only creating the premise and the treats, and and letting the kids themselves handle the entertainment value with their spontaneous and hilarious responses, the video exuded a realness that people appreciated. And as Crest and Oral-B are oral care brands, the whole initiative, which was centered around the consumption of candy and maintaining oral health, was perfect for them.

The creative solution to was to create a campaign whose central idea was taking candy away and replacing it with healthy treats. This showed the world just how much people love eating candy and created brand affinity for both Crest and Oral-B, who gave everyone permission to indulge on this holiday.

A downloadable coupon—which 1 in 5 people redeemed—provided real world sales. The video achieved 7.3 million YouTube views and had a Facebook click-through-rate that was 11 times higher than our benchmark, as well as an unprecedented 1.7 million coupon prints, a 20% base lift from base run for Procter & Gamble on Coupons.com. Branded mentions increased 23% above average during the campaign and continued to increase 13% afterwards. The return on the investment was impressive, with a paid to earn ration of 1 to 9. These figures helped solidify customer relationships for both Crest and Oral-B.