As the 2017/18 football season creeps closer, Doritos is one of several brand’s leveraging its NFL rights with a grid-iron themed campaign for a new four-flavoured chip called ‘Blazin’ Buffalo Explosion’ fronted by Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford .
Launched just ahead of the start of the new season, the new Doritos flavor combination is inviting fans to think like a pro football coach, pull out their clipboards and playbooks to boldly “Call the Play” for QB Stafford.
NFL star Stafford stars in an armchair quarterback style campaign/competition, “Call the Play”, promoting the new combination bag (see https://www.doritosmix.com/howitworks).
The “Call the Play” competition starts out on-pack when consumers purchasing specially marked bags of Blazin’ Buffalo Explosion are incentivised to use a code on the bag or a mobile scan to go to https://www.doritosmix.com/.
Once online and inside the site, fans can Call The Play Stafford will make, or, in other words, make a prediction of what order the Doritos mix shapes will be.
Then a digital Stafford takes aim and if his order matches the consumer’s order the user could score an ‘epic prize’ – including high-end electronics.
The prizes from the competition include a 55” curved TV, a VR headset and a home entertainment system.
The “Call the Play” competition will run from 31 July through 7 October 2017.
“Who doesn’t want to be an armchair quarterback?” said Stafford in the PR accompanying the launch campaign.
“Well now, working with Doritos, we’re giving fans just that chance. Call the play correctly that I call, and you could win some really cool stuff.”
Comment:
This is a classic ‘hungry for the new season’ style, pre kick-off competition updated for the modern marketing age.
But it’s not going to be the kind of ground-breaking, game-changing initiative that Doritos’ recently retired ‘Crash The Super Bowl’ NFL initiative once was (see case study).
Not is it as gimmicky, new tech-led and inventive as the PR smash that was sister brand Tostitos ‘Party Safety Bag’ at the 2017 Super Bowl (see case study).
Doritos isn’t new to creating cool experiences around its chips.
In April, Doritos partnered with Disney’s entertainment powerhouse Marvel to celebrate the launch of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
Doritos unveiled limited edition bags housing cassette decks and the movie’s much-anticipated soundtrack, looking to emulate upon the chart-topping prowess of the debut album.
Play the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack from a special edition bag with a music player. That’s bold snacking. https://t.co/INT1DJ7H3z
— Doritos (@Doritos) April 27, 2017
Doritos, one of the brands that makes up Frito-Lay’s $14bn convenient foods business unit, is part of $66bn net annual revenue giant PepsiCo’s blockbuster NFL partnership.
Doritos’ new ‘Blazin’ Buffalo Mix’ (which blends Chipotle, Cool Ranch, Blue Cheese and Blazin’ Buffalo & Ranch) adds to the brand’s Mix lineup, which includes four different Doritos shapes and flavours in one bag for a multi-sensorial experience with new mouth-watering mixes.
.@refinery29 said it best – "It's a Blazin' Buffalo world and we're just living in it." https://t.co/8mdCV9xn6P
— Doritos (@Doritos) August 9, 2017
Blazin’ Buffalo Mix will be available in stores nationwide beginning now in 9.5 oz bags for a suggested retail price of $4.29.
Links:
Doritos
Frito-Lay
https://www.twitter.com/fritolay.
