By Charlie Laughtland
BDA blog editor

BDA always goes the extra mile for our clients. In the case of Twizzlers Candy, that added up to about 10,000 miles this summer.

When Hershey’s marketing executives began brainstorming summer promotion ideas, they set out to create a campaign that didn’t just sell candy, but would leave a lasting impression with the consumer.

Enter Twizzlers Landmark Summer™.

For the promotion, Twizzlers provided 10 families the ultimate summer road trip experience in exchange for authoring a travel blog detailing their journey across the country. These “Twizzlers Traveling Families” took turns loading up the Twizzlers-mobile and hitting the highway to visit dozens of U.S. landmarks.

BDA was along for the ride, supplying such road trip staples as Twizzlers-branded GPS units, digital cameras, National Park guidebooks, beach towels and more.

The Hershey Company tasked BDA with creating powerful pieces of branded merchandise to sweeten family travel this summer—both for the Traveling Families and the 178,000 fans following the road trip on the Twizzlers Facebook page.

For many of the Traveling Families, this was their first family road trip. Their children will have fond memories of climbing the steps of the Washington Monument, hearing the crack of the bats at Fenway Park and driving across the Golden Gate Bridge. Oh, and plenty of tasty Twizzlers Candy along the way.

Long after the summer vacations have ended and the Twizzers minivan is safely parked, the merchandise will help keep the memories alive. The Twizzlers Landmark Summer promotion is proof that in a world where brands are clamoring to create 1-to-1 relationships with consumers, creative branded merchandise is a powerful tool.