“Do us a FLAVOR.” -- This brand has a fun and tasty favor to ask that might just make you a millionaire!

Thursday: Gorillas of Guerilla Marketing FROM THE DESK OF MILES EVERSON: I truly believe that word of mouth (WOM) is one of the most effective ways to market a brand or business. However, to compel your customers or clients to spread positive words about your brand through WOM, you first have to ensure they’ve had a good experience with your business. And how do you ensure that? Guerrilla Marketing―a clever tactic that incorporates creativity, fun, interaction, and uniqueness into your advertising campaigns! Keep reading to know how this famous potato chips brand encouraged its target market to get involved with its “flavorful” campaign. CEO, MBO Partners Chairman of the Advisory Board, The I Institute

“Do us a FLAVOR.” -- This brand has a fun and tasty favor to ask that might just make you a millionaire! Lay’s is a brand of potato chip varieties that was founded by American salesman Herman Lay in 1932 and was acquired by PepsiCo., Inc. in 1965. Some of the brand’s product lines include: Lay’s Original Potato Chips Lay’s Better For You Lay’s Kettle Cooked Lay’s Poppables Lay’s Stax Lay’s Wavy As stated on its website, Lay’s product flavors are almost as rich as its history, with a “chip or crisp flavor guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.” A Favor for a Flavor As part of its 75th anniversary celebration on July 2012, Lay’s partnered with marketing and promotion agency The Marketing Arm to launch its “Do Us A Flavor” Campaign in the US. The brand didn’t aim to only raise brand awareness through its campaign. It also wanted to generate buzz, especially among the 18-to-34-year-olds. The campaign consisted of a social media contest to help Lay’s create a stronger relationship with millennials. Another was a Times Square pop-up store that allowed consumers to taste 22 different potato chip flavors produced by the brand. The premise of the campaign was to let consumers decide what the “next popular potato chip flavor” is for the company. Flavor submissions were strictly accepted through Lay’s social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and through their website. Lay’s also created a new app where millennials can pitch their flavor ideas in a span of 3 months. Once they submitted their entries, they would receive an image of a customized Lay’s bag that reflected their suggested flavors. Participants could also compete with other participants through the app’s daily “Flavor Showdowns.” According to then Chief Marketing Officer at Lay’s, Ann Mukherjee, the campaign team only projected to receive 1.2 million flavor submissions. What they didn’t expect was to receive 3.8 million flavor submissions in three months! After the deadline of submissions, a panel of judges―celebrities Eva Longoria, Nick Lachey, Michael Symon, and Lay’s culinary experts―were chosen to narrow down the flavors to three. Once three finalist flavors were chosen, the decision would be in the hands of consumers through online voting. The winning flavor would be reproduced by Lay’s to be sold in stores across the globe. What’s more? The owner of the winning flavor would receive a USD 1 million cash prize from Lay’s! Effectiveness of the Lay’s “Do Us A Flavor” Campaign The campaign lasted for 10 months and during that time span, Pennsylvania State University’s case study found that Lay’s Facebook page followers rose to 1.2 million and had an average of over 22.5 million visits PER WEEK. Lay’s PTAT (People Talking About This), the measurement of the number of people talking about the brand, increased by 4,700. As for Lay’s year-on-year (YoY) sales, the brand increased its sales by 12%. The USD 1 million prize and the Best Chip Flavor Award was given to Wisconsin librarian Karen Weber-Mendham, who submitted the “Cheesy Garlic Bread” flavor. According to Mendham, her flavor was inspired by her children’s flavor preferences whenever they would dine at an Italian restaurant. Lay’s and its partner agency The Marketing Arm also received three awards from one of the world’s largest awards programs, PRO Awards, namely: Best Idea or Concept Best Multi Discipline Promotion Best Promotion Generating Brand Awareness The Lay’s “Do Us A Flavor” Campaign is more than just creating the latest and tastiest potato chip flavor. It also shows the importance of consumers in the marketing and development of new products since they are the ones who provide insights and information on how brands can further improve their products. As a brand owner or marketer, one of the ways to create a stronger relationship with your target market is by allowing them to directly participate in your campaign. Show your target market that you value them by giving them the opportunity to share ideas to improve your brand! By doing so, not only will your marketing efforts benefit your brand, but it will also gain interest and attraction from your target market. Hope you’ve found this week’s guerrilla marketing insight interesting and helpful. Follow us on LinkedIn.     Stay tuned for next Thursday’s Gorillas of Guerilla Marketing! Do you want to learn about how this cookie company turned a 34 minute blackout into the “Dunk in The Dark” campaign? See it on next week’s Gorillas of the Guerilla Marketing!