How do you create news, add surprise and an undeniable wow factor to one of the biggest and best-loved candies on the planet? The folks at Mars did just that, introducing an edible technology that let's anyone customize M&M's with messages and their own image.

Educating consumers about this amazing technology, and providing them with ideas and suggestions for how and when to use them, provides the springboard for a wide range of marketing activities across multiple channels.

Created in partnership with Oddcast, this multiple award-winning viral experience was part of the launch efforts that let the public know about this new technology.

Users could upload their image, add a personal message (or select a song) and watch their creation come to life in Red & Yellow's science lab.

To complete the process, users could send their personalized M&M to friends or click through to the site to purchase them.

The Queen of Crafting loves personalized M&M's so much she agreed to create a holiday promotion centered around them. The candies were featured twice on the Martha Stewart show and a section of her website dedicated to crafting gave visitors step-by-step instructions on making their own holiday gifts that incorporated the treats.

The campaign contained online advertising, print ads in Martha Stewart Living, video instructions for the crafts, and promotional callouts on the MyMM's, MM's and the Martha Stewart websites. Sweet indeed!

Valentine's Day is one the biggest day of the year for chocolate gifts, and a variety of marketing efforts drove the biggest Valentine's ever for MyM&M's. Rich Media and standard ad units and an email blitz promoted the personalized candies, and even offered sweet message suggestions for tongue-tied Romeo's.