Made For Each Other

Romeo and Juliet, Bert and Ernie, sausage and mash – some things just naturally go well together. Frito-Lay chips, with Frito-Lay dips should have been another successful partnership, but consumers loyal to the Frito-Lay brand failed to transfer that loyalty to their choice of dip.

The target buying audience of Frito-Lay were women in the late 20s and early 30s. Frito-Lay needed to find a way to engage these women, and decided to make great partnerships the core of its new campaign. Women in this age group are traditionally thinking about relationships and long term commitment, so Frito-Lay implemented a dual strategy, create a powerful emotional connection around their chips and dip, and engage consumers around a relationships and magical pairings.

The campaign kicked off on the symbolic date of February 14th, Valentine’s day. A series of short animated “Chips + Dips” films, each featuring quirky characters who are alone in the world but seeking true love. Each film followed a character’s journey as they eventually found happiness with their perfect match. These films were seeded with bloggers and streaming sites in time for Valentine’s day. Print advertising appeared around magazine content related to love and relationships, instead of the usual food spaces.

Digitally, social media tools spread the “Chips + Dips” stories, and the animations were shown amongst romantic programming on television. In retail spaces, dips were moved next to Frito-Lay chips, surrounded with “Made for each other” collateral.

The year-on-year sales of Frito-Lays increased by $35,000,000, representing an 8% increase over 2008 sales. More than 400,000 consumers went to the online hub to explore the world of Frito-Lay dips.