See how one of the most anticipated Reese's products was developed, leaked and launched! A presentation given at the Association of National Advertisers meeting.

1. Ryan Riess
Sr. Brand Manager Reese’s

2. Why I love my job

3. Learnings
from #Cupfusion

4. Key Learnings
Lesson One:
Be the brand
Lesson Two:
See Opportunity
Lesson Three:
Have Fun

5. Lesson One:
Be the brand
Get in character & act like the brand

6. What is Most Reese’s
Thing We Could Do?

7. +
An EQUITY EXPLOSION

9. 12 hours later …..

10. …. our creation was
born

11. Lesson Two:
See Opportunity
Find opportunities where others see risk

13. Initial reaction….
“How did this
information get
leaked online?”

14. 4,900
Comments
39,000
Shares
But then we noticed
something

15. We had to make a choice
Follow the tried and true Take the risk

16. In 89 years, we had never
launched a product in this manner

17. There were doubts and
questions
“What if competition
finds out?”
“We don’t communicate until
we have full distribution”
“Consumers will get mad that they
can’t buy it”
“We don’t have samples”
“We won’t control the message”
“How will fans
react?”
“We don’t have a
campaign”

18. Bolstered by brand voice… we
crushed doubts and convention
“We don’t communicate until we
have full distribution”
“Consumers will get mad that they can’t buy it”
“We don’t have a campaign”

19. And launched #CupFusion

20. Lesson Three:
Have funWe all perform our best when we are having fun

21. We had a problem …
How turn leak into a tidal wave?

22. A look at the calendar
gave the team an idea

23. I played “creative” and
mocked up the idea

24. But you might want some
help from the pros
Extra Space - Not formatted for FB
Fins don’t line up and have a drop shadow
Fins different widths

25. Conclusion:
Did the plan work?

26. Consumer-centric strategy
in three discrete stages
Step 1:
Set the bait
Step 2:
Create Confusion
Step 3:
Big Reveal

27. Pivoted to accelerate
timing of each stage
“Is this really happening?”
“Seriously, make this happen”
“MAKE THIS HAPPEN REESES”
“Oh are you finally going to comment on
when this is coming out instead of making a
thousand posts a day and then ignoring
people when they ask?”
Excited Annoyed

28. Following lead of fans, we
kept conversation going
TVC Social New Items

29. We continue to drive
excitement, sell-in, and sales
“Easiest sell I’ve ever made.
The buyer called me”
-- Hershey Sales Executive

30. Key Learnings
Lesson One:
Be the brand
Lesson Two:
See Opportunity
Lesson Three:
Have Fun