Kraft Heinz Canada has partnered with Twitch to open up a streaming store to introduce more KD Flavour Boost options to its Gen Z and millennial audience.
Twitch features an in-platform currency called “bits,” which users can use to unlock features during in-stream chats or contribute to their favourite streamers. And for three days, a virtual “Streaming Store” was hosted through the feeds of Canadian streamers The Stacey Roy, Sloot and Jess U, where followers could use their bits to “buy” new KD Flavour Boosters (the bits went to the streamer, while the viewer received a six-pack of the Boosters). The first stream with The Stacey Roy was hosted on Tuesday, with the next streams scheduled for next week.
First released in June, the Poutine, Ghost Pepper, Jalapeno, Butter Chicken, Buffalo Wing and Cotton Candy Flavour Boosters are packets that add new flavours to bowls of KD, targeted to the brand’s millennial and Gen Z target audience. It also builds on previous flavour-focused efforts the brand says “broke the internet,” like last fall’s Pumpkin Spice KD or a Valentine’s Day campaign that first introduced the cotton candy flavour.
Brian Neumann, associate director of brand build and innovation at Kraft Heinz Canada, says the company worked directly with Twitch to develop the effort, a first of its kind on the platform in Canada, in a way that not just drove the product, but would be the kind of things audience would be receptive to.
“It was important to us to make sure we were showing up in a way that broke through on the platform, but also was authentic to the audience,” he says. “We tapped into an existing behaviour and allowed the Twitch community to leverage their bits in a new way. This allowed us to intercept this audience where they already are, giving them the opportunity to get their hands on KD Flavour Boost virtually.”
To that end, the integration is built around actions and behaviours Twitch users are used to, such as encouraging fans to “spam the chat” with a hashtag to fill up an on-screen meter for additional prizes.
Kraft Heinz Canada has been experimenting with DTC since last year. The Pumpkin Spice and Cotton Candy campaigns drove directly to dedicated DTC sites for the products, and it also ran the Kraft Heinz Canteen, which offered family-size bundles of Kraft Heinz staple products and condiments. While the Canteen is no longer online, Neumann says response to previous campaign-specific efforts was highly positive.
“Similar to those programs, we are leveraging our DTC website, but have evolved it, creating a standalone KD site that allows us to own the consumer journey from start to finish,” he says. “This helps to maintain the integrity of the creative, creating a seamless experience for our consumers.”
The launch campaign for Flavour Boosts began in June with executions on TikTok, with brand videos that played on current video trends on the platform, as well as engaging influencers.
“We wanted to make sure we were active where these younger consumers are active and with Gen Z’ers making up over 40% of active Twitch and TikTok users, we know these were channels we wanted to be live on,” Neumann says.
The brand’s AORs are managing the campaign: Rethink led creative and production, with Carat on media, in-house social agency The Kitchen is managing social and The Colony Project managing public relations.
