Once again, Doritos is putting its fate in the hands of chip lovers, and exceeding expectations right out the gate. This time, the Frito Lay brand asked fans to complete a commercial that first aired during the Super Bowl. In the spot, two chip creators present flavours – Buffalo Wings N’ Ranch and Onion Rings N’ Ketchup – to their leader, but before she chooses one, viewers are asked to write their own ending.
After the success of Guru and last year’s Viralocity, it was natural for Doritos to go the consumer-generated route again, but this time the brand decided to simplify it.
“Writing breaks it down to its purest form, a really level playing field,” says Tim Welsh, VP group account director at BBDO.
The new direction has already paid off. After receiving 2,000 video entries last year, this year’s goal was 6,000 entries, but they received 7,000 in the first week alone. Entrants have been posting their endings on Writetheend.ca and sharing them via social media. The top 14 vote-getters will be put to an expert panel, and the winning ad will be revealed on May 5 in grand style with MuchMusic and Astral.
The winner will receive $25,000 and 1% of future sales from their winning flavour, an element that’s being brought back from the Guru campaign.
“We learned that 1% of sales generates a lot of buzz,” says Haneen Khalil, marketing manager for Doritos. “We want them to want the flavour that survives to do well on the shelves. There’s a connection there, a partnership.”
The winner will become the first member of the Doritos “Think Tank.” They’ll be flown to Toronto to meet with the team and will weigh in on future brand decisions.
Along with BBDO and its offshoot Proximity, which created the website, OMD is handling media, Capital C designed the packaging and Fleishman-Hillard is handling PR.