In one of the more unexpected brand collaborations of the year, Doritos has partnered with pop star Rihanna for a unique promotion tied to the release of the singer’s latest single.
Featuring a ‘Late Night’ theme in promotion of the brand’s All Nighter Cheeseburger and Last Call Jalapeno Popper flavours, the campaign features an augmented reality (AR) execution activated by glyphs on the bags. When the user holds their bag in front of a webcam while logged on to Doritoslatenight.com, it activates a Rihanna ‘performance’ in which the user can use the bag to control the viewpoint of the show.
Global in scope, the promotion is targeting music fans in individual countries with the inclusion of bands from Canada, Brazil, Turkey, South Africa and the UK. The Canadian band on the roster is Toronto’s Down With Webster, who are featured in an interactive video on the Doritos Late Night website.
The Canadian media plan, handled by OMD, to support the contest includes a comprehensive MuchMusic effort, which includes four two-minute spots featuring Down with Webster and driving to Doritoslatenight.com running from Oct. 19 until Nov. 14, with a new spot appearing each week, as well as a 30-minute Rihanna ‘Making the video’ special, which will air on the network mid-November and presented as a Doritos Late Night Exclusive. The promotion for the show includes 15-second tune-in spots and 30-second promo spots featuring Doritos branding.
Online, the plan includes display on MuchMusic.com, including a first-ever execution on the site of a 300 x 500 video unit featuring the two-minute spot (running Oct. 19 to Nov. 14), which is supported by a leaderboard, a homepage takeover today, a homepage button and a blog page with permanent campaign display ads.
The media plan extends to CTV from Oct. 19 to Oct. 26, where a 30-second pre-roll ad and big box display drive to the campaign website. On Vevo.com, for which CTV handles sales, the buy includes pre-roll and display around Rihanna and Down with Webster videos.
The MusiquePlus plan includes TV (spots, billboards, lower thirds) from Oct. 18 to mid-Nov.; radio advertising on NJR for the month of November, and integrated promotion with the Christo show for the last two weeks of October, and online, a homepage domination on MusiquePlus.com this week, and display ads on the MusiquePlus homepage, the site’s Monde de Christo page, Ztele.com and NRJ.ca.
The promotion was tailored to both promote Doritos flavours and a new single by the Island Def Jam artist (who is featured on the track by UK house DJ David Guetta); the company took care to note in the press release that it was not a product placement or endorsement deal, but a ‘one-of-a-kind, interactive music experience that the Doritos brand created especially for worldwide fans of Rihanna’s music.’
‘We’ve made a conscious effort with Doritos to focus our marketing around breakthrough interaction and collaboration with our fans, and our partnership with Rihanna is a perfect example of providing a truly unique experience around an artist they are passionate about,’ said Rudy Wilson, VP, marketing, Frito-Lay North America, in a release.
In addition to OMD, Canadian agency credits for the promotion include Jetsar for Down With Webster, Proximity for digital, and BBDO on the Down With Webster video. In the US, Goodby, Silverstein and Partners handled the advertising, while United Entertainment Group handled entertainment.
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