Lays: LAY'S COLA CHICKEN

Credits & Description:

Advertiser: PEPSICO
Agency: BBDO CHINA
Category: Best Use of Branded Content & Sponsorship
Marketing Manager: Echo Li (Pepsico)
Marketing Director: Julie Ji (Pepsico)
Marketing Director: Alfred Tong (Pepsico)
Chief Marketing Officer: Richard Lee (Pepsico)
Chief Executive Officer: Siewping Lim (OMD)
Managing Partner: Daniel Koh (OMD)
Head Of Marketing: Richard He (Pepsico)
Media Director: Tina Wang (Pepsico)
Senior Media Manager: Wilson Dai (Pepsico)

Effectiveness
17.9 million people saw and shared the teaser, more than 40 million people saw the viral film and participation on the website exceeded targets by 53%.As a result of the campaign, more than 4 1/2 million posts about Lay’s Cola Chicken were shared on China’s microblog platform.Sales exceeded targets by 99%, shifting more than 40 million packs of Lay’s Cola Chicken potato chips within the campaign period, meaning that over 4 million RMB was donated to building children’s libraries in rural China.

Execution
Lay’s Cola Chicken was a flavour innovation that expertly married Pepsico.’s two flagship brands; Pepsi and Lay’s. The campaign was the first of its kind that brought together two brands in a single campaign.To appeal immediately to the target, the commercial featured well-known celebrities from each brand, creating an element of surprise as viewers expecting to see one brand featured in the ad, saw both.A teaser introduced the concept and left viewers in suspense as the stars, who were romantically involved, had a falling out.A website then encouraged viewers to exercise their creative side and write how they imagined the story to unfold. Other users voted on their favourite story, which became the basis for the actual TV commercial.At the same time, for every pack of Lay’s sold, 0.1 RMB was donated to building libraries for impoverished children in rural China.

Strategy
The snack category is extremely cluttered, and any new product, even one as innovative as Lay’s Cola Chicken, needs to do something special to stand out. And while potato chips make up a significant portion of the snack market, uniquely Chinese snacks dominate and potato chips are a relatively new addition.On the one hand, Chinese youth are frequently accused of being self-absorbed and tend to hedonistically pursue entertainment; on the other hand there is an increasing social conscience and a desire to be more giving.Our consumer does indeed spend large amounts of time seeking entertainment, and are obsessed with romantic dramas.But it is also true that they want to give to people less fortunate than themselves and this is not always easy in China, where charities are few and often difficult to trust.