Brief:

• M&M's candy debuted a social media sweepstakes as part of its return to running a 30-second commercial during the Super Bowl, which NBC will broadcast from Minneapolis on Feb. 4. The Mars Wrigley Confectionery brand asks people to record their best touchdown dance while featuring M&M's candy, and to post the videos on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram to win.
• Videos need to be tagged with #MMSuperBowlLIIDanceContest and be no longer than 15 seconds, according to the contest rules. Four winners will receive a Super Bowl party pack, a football-shaped goodie chest filled with M&M's candy and other branded products valued at $150.
• The contest isn't sponsored, endorsed or associated with Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, M&M's said. The National Football League also isn't sponsoring the contest.

Insight:

M&M's social media campaign is a way to engage younger audiences with the brand as it prepares to ramp up its 2018 promotions with a return to sponsoring the Super Bowl after a three-year hiatus. The touchdown dance is a well-known phenomenon for football fans and is typically performed by members of the team responsible for scoring a touchdown. It has become more involved over the years, with the best examples often appearing on social media.  M&M's is tapping into the interest in the touchdown dance to drive excitement with younger fans on social media and to encourage them to look for the brand's ads during game, which typically has one of the biggest broadcast audiences for a live event in any year. 

M&M's is active on social media and has been known to experiment with unique engagement strategies. For Halloween, the brand told an choose-your-own adventure ghost story across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter in weekly installments throughout October. In general, the brand has seen success on social, with M&M's garnering a 7.29% engagement rate on its Facebook page in 2015, compared with a 1.75% average engagement rate for CPG brands, per Campaign. On Twitter, the brand saw a 4.26% engagement rate and more than 411,000 engagements with its content in 2015.

M&M's 30-second Super Bowl spot, which was produced by BBDO New York, will air during the first quarter of the championship game, Advertising Age reported last month. M&M's featured Yellow M&M in its Super Bowl ad in 2014, the third straight year for the brand. Since then, Mars had used its Super Bowl inventory to promote Snickers and Skittles. Last year, Mars aired one commercial for Skittles, its third consecutive year for the candy. It also ran a live commercial for Snickers starring actor Adam Driver in a western scene. Snickers won't have a Super Bowl spot this year, but has a big year planned with the launch of three new flavors in June, Adweek reported.

NBC has set a record asking price for the Super Bowl of more than $5 million, Adweek reported on its Super Bowl 2018 ad tracker. Hyundai, Avocados from Mexico, Budweiser, Bud Light, Coca-Cola, Doritos, Pringles and Stella Artois are among the brands lined up for the game.