Branded entertainment is in the early stages of development in Canada. While there are many online videos and an increasing amount of content, there is not much in the way of Branded Entertainment. While many brands are expanding to online video, many struggle with doing more than a longer form commercial. There are no restrictions, just a lack of execution with only a few brands creating branded content.

As the icon of unpredictability, Skittles always faces the challenge of bringing fans the unexpected. The objective was to deliver a unique Skittles story to increase brand volume by driving salience among consumers.

Skittles has always brought its fans a long line of interesting, irreverent characters. This list includes the man whose touch turned everything into Skittles, the well-known Cat, and the Sheep boys. This time, the brand took advantage of the trend toward longer-format content to delve deeper into another unique and compelling Skittles character.

This led to the story of David Millwood, the man who was struck by a rainbow. Once a man made of flesh, David instantly became a man entirely covered in Skittles. The documentary explores how difficult it was for David to come to terms with his new appearance and dermal disposition. People staring, pointing, picking and licking him. However, David’s journey culminates in his realization that this was the best thing that could have ever happened to him and everyone around him. Why? It’s simple. Because everyone respects the courage it takes to be different. And, well, because, everyone loves Skittles.

What better way to drive viewers to a film than with a preview? A :15 teaser was used to create some intrigue and drive viewers to the full length documentary. Facebook ads, digital banner ads and in-game ads were also used to create awareness. We also leveraged our Facebook fan page. All media was directed toward our post-millennial target, along with movie/entertainment lovers.

David’s story was well received. The campaign delivered over 35 million (35,994,385) impressions and drove over 1.4 million views (1,418,926 clicks/views), exceeding our campaign goals by 68% and 74% respectively. In addition to this, it was featured as Ad of the Day on Adweek and was the 6th most viewed online ad in Canada in December 2014.

Struck by a Rainbow is a documentary about David Milwood, a man covered entirely in Skittles. How did this happen? One day while David was hiking, a rainbow - the rainbow being a key device for the brand - struck him. His life changes forever and he has to live the rest of his days with multi-coloured Skittles for skin. From saving on haircuts – his scalp now Skittles-covered – to Skittles covering his floor and furniture as they constantly fall from him, the entire story is about the brand.

Skittles fans eagerly anticipate every communication and we wanted to reward them with a unique entertainment experience that could only come from Skittles. So we created a 3:37 documentary to give them another bizarre story from the brand where reality intersects with the imaginary.