‘The Doritos Square’ campaign by Sips and Bites won gold in Experiential Sponsorship at The Drum Awards. It leveraged the iconic shapes of Minecraft and Doritos to create a bold, unexpected partnership, sparking debate and engagement by temporarily transforming Doritos’ triangles into squares, culminating in a hunt for real Square Doritos and limited-edition Minecraft flavors.
Minecraft is the world’s most popular video game, and its appeal transcends age. Doritos is the most popular snack consumed by video game enthusiasts, so the brand naturally fits in this world. Minecraft is synonymous with the cube and square, just as Doritos is universally known for its iconic triangle. In fact, in the UK, 98% of respondents can identify our brand just from the shape alone.
The new Minecraft movie was hotly anticipated, and the collision of our two brands gave us a unique opportunity because it created a compelling tension between two iconic shapes. Brand assets are precious because of their intimate and powerful link to the brand in people’s minds. At the core of the Doritos brand is boldness; a boldness in the way the brand behaves and the confidence and self-assuredness it celebrates in others. Only a bold, confident brand would alter its own distinctive brand asset. So, by temporarily turning our trademark triangles square, we were re-enforcing our core strength and intentionally provoking our fans who, in some cases, were outraged that we would consider changing our shape. By upsetting the natural order of things and disrupting convention, we shook things up and ignited a conversation around our product in a memorable way.
Brand and movie franchise partnerships are a well-trodden area of marketing resulting in a basic “badging” activation. But we wanted to be bold and unexpected to create passionate engagement. We know that when the natural order of things is upset, people pay attention. So, by suggesting our famous Doritos triangular snack was going square, we evoked strong feelings, from disbelief, to rage. After we revealed that our Square Doritos claim was true, but not in the way fans were expecting, we rewarded them with a hunt for a real Square Doritos. This gave people the chance to win epic prizes and immerse themselves further in the world of Minecraft and Doritos. So, what started as a provocative post questioning the very nature of our product, evolved into an immersive experience that gave fans of both Doritos and Minecraft the chance to get their hands on a piece of history.
The strategy for the 'Doritos Square' campaign was to create several points of engagement and experience for both fans and the broader population alike. First, we harnessed the insight that people resist change. By messing with the natural order of things and defying expectation based on years of brand consistency, we knew that we would spark a debate and a high degree of interest in our brand that a run of the mill partnership could never achieve. Second, we delighted fans with the announcement that this transformation was in the service of our collaboration with 'A Minecraft Movie' which had been deliberately withheld until this point. Fans were rewarded with the opportunity to take part in the hunt for the Square Dorito and immerse themselves in the world of Minecraft. Finally, two limited-edition 'A Minecraft Movie' flavours were released to give fans a multi-sensory way to engage with the film.
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We created a ‘tease’ in social, newspaper wraps and digital OOH, showing a square Doritos with the line: ‘The shape of things to come’, leaving fans baffled and demanding an answer. With interest at max, we released a press statement confirming the company was exploring production of Square Doritos with photographs of prototypes. We then revealed our Minecraft movie partnership and confirmed the Square Doritos was real and that fans could find them in two ways; first, through an on-pack promotion that offered cash prizes and other Minecraft movie merchandise; second, 100 bags containing REAL Square Doritos infiltrated supermarkets across the country. Amplified by influencers, a trail of clues was inserted in advertorials suggesting the location of the rare bags. This was supported in local radio and on social. Finally, two limited-edition 'A Minecraft Movie' flavours were released to give fans a multi-sensory way to engage with the film.
The Doritos Square Minecraft promotion generated exceptional coverage, with over 1.5 billion PR impressions and 658 pieces of coverage.
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Sips & Bites
Pepsico In-House Agency