Even as screens around the globe are still tuned to the World Cup, soccer is not the only sport drawing consumer attention. Doritos recently launched a new global campaign and stepped up experiential marketing as part of the brand’s official partnership with Formula 1, taking a fan-centric approach to a sport where 99% of enthusiasts watch the races from home.
The focus on home-based viewers comes to life in “The Crunch Prix,” a campaign created by Goodby Silverstein & Partners and directed by Antoine Bardou-Jacquet with visual effects by Untold Studios. In a 60-second hero video, one bite of a Doritos chip sends viewers flying down the track riding whatever they were sitting on, including couches, recliners, gaming chairs and even a bathtub. The effort, part of a larger “Taste the Thrill” platform, will roll out across social and out-of-home platforms.
For Doritos and parent PepsiCo, which will be an official partner of F1 until 2030, the racing series provides three key advantages: a worldwide presence; an evolving fan base; and events that take place over the course of 10 months out of the year, explained Kyle Gore, vice president of global marketing for Doritos.
“F1 has been pushing us to bring more fun, excitement and access to fans — which is not, honestly, what we expected — and we've been pleasantly surprised by the partnership they provided,” Gore said.
Along with allowing the brand to activate in more than 50 markets, the sport puts Doritos in front of an attractive fan base. Netflix’s “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” docuseries has brought in more consumers that are women, younger and digitally and socially native — key targets for the snack brand. Plus, F1 hosts 22 races around the globe that serve as an activation platform for the brand’s dining innovations and experiential efforts.
Along with the “Crunch Prix” campaign, Doritos introduced the Doritos Thrill Zone last weekend at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone, England. The activation included immersive activities and fan experiences, like a virtual racing game and a live interview featuring F1 commentators and content creators.
Doritos also brought two food trucks to Silverstone as part of its Doritos Loaded initiative that uses the brand’s chips as a base for different meals. The menu featured a recipe created by recently named brand partner Gordon Ramsay, and consumers who made purchases from the trucks had a chance to win exclusive prizes.
“We’re flexing our local markets to really bring this [partnership] to life in the Thrill Zone,” Gore said. “[These races] are almost like a music festival: it's multiple days, it's across a large physical space and the racing part of it is relatively small in the course of the entire day. But people are spending 12, 13, 14 hours there, and they need a place to be able to get away.”
Lessons learned
Doritos’ F1 tie-up is informed by learnings gleaned from its parent company’s sports partnerships, like what PepsiCo has done to scale its long-term partnership with the NFL beyond the U.S., or what Lays is currently doing with the World Cup in host countries U.S., Mexico and Canada. But the scale of F1 is unmatched for marketers.
“F1 gives you that full calendar, which is super exciting, and it has allowed the markets to feel ownership for it,” Gore said. “When you only have an event in one country and one market, it makes it a little bit more difficult.”
Along with balancing the needs of different markets, Doritos is working to determine its role in the content ecosystem as it seeks to find the most relevant, customized content for consumers — whether they are fans of Doritos, F1, Ramsay, partner team Mercedes-AMG Petronas or drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.
“It's been an orchestration act to make sure that we're developing content, number one, that all of our fans are going to engage with, and number two, that we're protecting each individual brand,” Gore said. “A lot of the activity is making sure that we have room and space for all of this to live.”
The global nature of F1 is also giving local teams an opportunity to learn how to market around races that aren’t in their backyards: A race in China or Australia is just as important to F1 fans in Brazil or the U.S. With that in mind, Doritos is increasingly publishing content across all of the social channels in its ecosystem. Gore compares it to his work on the Doritos brand in the U.S. a decade ago around the ad world’s biggest sporting event.
“You'd have the war room for the Super Bowl, and you get everybody together for that eight hours and [try to] be really relevant,” Gore said. “Now that's evolved to a global stage. How are we doing this across all the markets? How are you orchestrating it, and finding the stuff that's working and popping, and sharing it?”
