Ritz Social Campaigns
BRANDED SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING & INTERACTIVE PPC ADS – MADE WITH RITZ
TL;DR
Spearheaded a social campaign that rejuvenated an iconic snack brand by collaborating with Guy Fieri for a dynamic Super Bowl promotion. Our goal was to reinvent Ritz as "The Snack for Everyday Family Fun" through a social media strategy that engaged fans, inspiring them to embrace Ritz's "Open for Fun" identity and establish a thriving social community.
RESPONSIBILITIES
UX & Marketing Strategy, Creative Direction, Conceptual Thinking, Web Design, Photo/Video shoots, Development Handover, Creative Brainstorms
TEAM
1x UX Designer
1x Visual Designer
1x Project Managers
1x Product Developers
TIMELINE
2 Months
In a pioneering move for CPG brands in the social media landscape, my team and I joined forces with Guy Fieri to launch a dynamic Super Bowl campaign. Our mission was clear: breathe new life into a beloved yet aging brand, rekindling snack passion among dormant social media followers through compelling partnerships with pop-culture icons and brands.
We aimed to solidify Ritz as "The Snack for Everyday Family Fun" and ignite the social space with enthusiasm. Through engaging content, including user-generated recipes and earned media, we galvanized fans to embrace Ritz's "Open for Fun" spirit. By staying attuned to trending media and pop culture, we laid the foundation for Ritz's enduring reputation as an 'all things fun' brand, ensuring the growth of its social community.
THE CHALLENGE BEHIND THE CHALLENGE
Everyone has great Ritz recipes, but who really has the best? Ritz challenged us to find out, and we responded by looking for a relevant partnership with a branded icon who’s values and reach would be a delicious match with the ‘Open for Fun’ atitude of Ritz crackers. Enter celebrity chef Guy Fieri, his mouth-watering recipes, and the first-ever Ritz Recipe Challenge.
We conceptualized and developed the campaign for the Facebook community, which included supporting media and TV spots that were the major traffic drivers to the Ritz Fan Page. Fans could download six mouth-watering signature Ritz recipes created with the help of Guy's tantalizing taste buds, or take on the challenge and enter their own Ritz recipe for a chance to win $20,000 and a celebratory dinner with chef Fieri himself.
IT ALL STARTED WITH A TASTY PHOTOSHOOT WITH GUY HIMSELF
Working with Guy and his team, we dedicated a day to work through a series of themes and visual and motion shots for the range of marketing pieces being developed for the Ritz Recipe Challenge, which was also coinciding with the Super Bowl for that year. The day was long but productive, complete with multiple wardrobe changes and shot improvisations (including me willingly getting pelted with handfuls of Ritz crackers from Mr. Fieri).
RITZ ROCKS THE GAME DAY RECIPES + CHALLENGE FOR THEIR FANS
With Guy FIeri already established as a bonafide celebrity chef and all around good ‘Guy,’ we knew his mouth-watering original recipes would be a great combination of tastes and creativity when combined with the fun flavor of Ritz. Our challenge was creating an experience that highlighted those offerings in a fun, interactive way within the Facebook interface, and finding that sweet spot of merging the brands of Guy and Ritz. Once on the Ritz fan page, fans could easily access these six delicious recipe details within the Facebook app.
A RECIPE CHALLENGE FOR THE AGES, AND FOR ALL AGES
As a real Super Bowl Recipe Shake-Up, we helped Ritz challenge consumers to one up Guy Fieri with their ultimate, over-the-top Ritz recipe. One lucky winner was crowned the Ritz Over-The-Top Recipe Star and received a celebration dinner with Guy Fieri at his exclusive California restaurant plus…$20,000! (And everyone wins by getting access to show-stopping recipes from Ritz and Guy). This was a great opportunity to not only submit your own recipe, but also a platform to vote, share, and celebrate other's recipes as well!
TV SPOTS & DIGITAL DRIVING TRAFFIC + SALES
An integrated marketing mix across paid, earned and owned channels (both online and offline) played an integral role in generating awareness around the program, especially leading up to the Super Bowl.
In addition to the digital outreach driving traffic to Ritz Facebook (helping to amplify the message and promote this awesome opportunity to achieve Ritz royalty, including third-party bloggers and Twitter feeds spreading the word!), TV spots, OLM, and engagement ads intercepted consumers and helped to highlight, inform, and get fans excited. This resulted in significant traffic through each of their engaging creativity and engaging components.
THE RESULTS WERE OFF THE HOOK!
Our campaign was a resounding success, far surpassing our goals and generating significant social media buzz. The contest garnered an impressive 1,345 approved entries and over 350,000 unique page views. With more than 24,000 Facebook app installations, our audience proved to be engaged and active.
The download rate for Guy Fieri recipes was the real game-changer, skyrocketing with a staggering 268,000 recipe downloads, exceeding our program goal by fivefold. During the contest, we also gained nearly 89,000 new fans, approaching a total of 440,000 fans.
The Ritz fan page experienced remarkable growth, with a 23% increase in reach and fan engagement, accompanied by a 30% surge in daily interactions. The Ritz Recipe Challenge played a significant role, driving most of the action and attracting new fans. On Super Bowl day, it reached around 70,000 page views, with 30,000 unique visitors and 14,000 new fans. Remarkably, over half of the page visits were from unique users, and 40% of them converted into fans, marking a touchdown-worthy achievement! 🏈✨