PepsiCo International
Client: PepsiCo International
Product: Doritos
Title: Doritos Silent: The World's First Augmented Snack
Media: Outdoor
Country: United Kingdom
Date Of Campaign: 01/11/23
Background: Doritos is the number one snack brand for gamers worldwide. Which is a privilege. But there’s a problem. Our much-loved crunch disrupts and annoys other gamers subjected to the noise in their microphone. So, instead of regarding this issue as an inescapable by-product of Doritos popularity, we decided to pivot and turn this consumer pain point into a marketing opportunity. We also wanted to create top of mind awareness for the brand and improve both the gaming and snacking experience in one stroke. Doritos believes in being bold, so we shined a spotlight on our key selling point, our iconic crunch, and used it to start a conversation about a huge gaming bugbear. In essence, we turned our one weakness into a strength. By creating technology that solved a category problem, we not only appealed to gamers, but we also secured more loyalty and credibility within the gaming community.
Idea: The tease phase of the Silent Doritos campaign involved crafting a compelling but absurd key visual: a Doritos chip plugging up an ear. This arresting image functioned as a metaphor for the seemingly impossible new product. To create the image, our models had their ears cast and after much trial and error, three bespoke prosthetics were constructed to allow for the safe and secure insertion of a Dorito into their ear canals.To dissuade any copying, we used the small print to wryly remind viewers that Doritos are made to be eaten, not put in ears. The art direction was confidently graphic, using full-bleed photography, with the ear placed in the centre of the execution. Upper case typography was employed to stand out against the moody, dark background. To create more intrigue, a faux, but believable Doritos Silent pack was designed to accompany the message.
Results: The buzz generated by the campaign enjoyed 3.2bn earned reach, our biggest global Doritos gaming campaign ever. It received over 250 pieces of coverage, created a +76% uplift in on-target brand impressions and had over 200K organic social engagements. Doritos also recorded a +$50m sales growth. And the results amongst the gaming community were equally impressive. Interest in the Crunch Cancellation software drove more than 1.8m website hits to find out more and generated over 15K downloads in the first few weeks. And our Twitch Doritos emote was spammed more than 5.3m times! The campaign drove unprecedented talkability and global PR for the brand, driving commercial success and top of mind awareness. So not only did we enhance the gaming and snacking experience, but we also boldly silenced our biggest asset and by doing so, solved a pain point for consumers that succeeded in making our iconic crunch even louder.
