Betcha can’t give away just one.
To drive awareness and trial of its newest flavour, Spicy Ketchup, Frito Lay Canada recently launched a Facebook initiative in which everyone “liking” the brand on the social media site would receive a coupon for a free 75-gram bag of the chips redeemable at Mac’s, Couche Tard and Circle K convenience stores across the country.
The initiative – marking the Ruffles brand’s first foray into Facebook advertising – launched Aug. 16, with Frito Lay achieving its objective of 50,000 followers in just one week (it currently has just over 60,000 followers).
“The speed with which it got there was definitely a surprise for us,” said Claudia Calderon, senior marketing manager, potato chips at the Mississauga, Ont.-based snack food company, attributing much of the activity around the promo to the fact that it got picked up by daily deal and freebie sites such as ILoveFreeStuff.ca and SimplyFrugal.ca.
The program was intended to drive both awareness and trial of the new Spicy Ketchup flavour, said Calderon. While the giveaway portion of the campaign has concluded, Calderon said the Facebook page will be used primarily to communicate news about the Ruffles brand this year before becoming a significant “engagement tool” for the brand in 2012.
Calderon said the Spicy Ketchup extension was a natural for Frito Lay given the flavour’s immense popularity in Canada.
“We knew that Ketchup was really big, [and] we knew that within the Ruffles portfolio we had a segment within spicy that we really hadn’t talked to in the past,” said Calderon. “It was a perfect way to bring in a great flavour that already does really well, and add a little bit of spice to it. It’s important to bring a new flavour just to add something new to the repertoire and excite people.”
Described by Calderon as a “very Canadian flavour,” Ketchup is Frito Lay Canada’s third best-selling chip flavour – by both dollar and unit sales – behind Salt & Vinegar and Barbecue.
“It’s a flavour profile that Canadians have grown up with,” said Calderon. “If you were to ask somebody in the U.S., they’d probably think it was weird to put ketchup in a chip flavour.”
The giveaway was tied to a positioning around a Ruffles-themed Man Cave, which Calderon said aligned perfectly with the desire among Ruffles’ core audience of males 18-34 to hang out with friends.
Creative for the campaign was developed by BBDO Toronto with Vacuum helping develop the interface and flash components.
