• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, October 9, 2017

The Hershey Company’s Twizzlers has become among* the first brands to partner with Facebook to create their own lens, according to Hershey. 

The lens capability is one of several new tools introduced by Facebook in March.

The Twizzler lens lets users make and share short videos of themselves in which an intrusive Twizzler candy rope and the logo for the brand’s current campaign, “You Can’t Be Serious With Twizzlers,” are superimposed. 

The brand, which has dubbed the sharing of branded content by fans "#twizzlering," debuted the lens in time for “World Smile Day” on Oct. 6.

Consumers access the filter by clicking on the Camera or Stories sections of Facebook and scrolling through the filters. Since algorithms identify which filters appear first in the list of filters seen by a given user, those with existing relationships with the brand, like being a Twizzlers Facebook fan, are more likely to see the branded lens near the top of their lists, notes Noelle Perez, senior manager, digital advancement and innovation. Users can post their videos to their Stories or share them as posts that include a button urging viewers to try the lens now, she adds.

Since the “You Can’t Be Serious” campaign launched in Spring 2016, Twizzlers is seeing sales gains for the first time in three years, according to brand executives. In the last three months, the overall brand is up by an average of 2%, and the core product’s sales are up 8% year-over-year, they report.

The campaign has included content created by six social media influencers, as well as seven TV spots and a long-form video, all viewable on the brand’s YouTube channel. (“A Serious Film,” posted in April, is below.) 

The secret to its success is that it was based on insights about what consumers want from life — which, not surprisingly, includes laughs and relief from boredom, says Inri Mouchette, senior manager, sweets and refreshments for The Hershey Company. 

The concept that it’s “nearly impossible to be serious around Twizzlers” is conveyed in the TV spots by “poking serious people and catching their unserious reactions,” says Mona Hasan, creative director, CP+B, the creative agency behind the campaign. “And we all know people can sometimes be too serious on Facebook. This filter is our way of loosening them up." 

*Hershey, through its PR firm Zeno Group, originally claimed that Twizzlers was the first brand to have such a lens partnership with Facebook, but subsequently retracted that claim.