Cheez-It^® Partnered with Ripple Street to Drive Trials & Excitement for the College Football Playoffs

The Challenge                                                                                                                                                          The Coronavirus outbreak has forced difficult decisions for the sports-event industry. Nearly every major sporting event has been canceled, moved, or postponed. The way fans engage with events endured many changes due to the virus, which has caused organizations to rethink how fans will engage with their preferred sports in the future.

Cheez-It® partnered with Ripple Street, the leading peer-to-peer marketing platform that matches brands with their ideal consumers to support the Cheez-It® College Football Playoffs. Specifically, Cheez-It® wanted to increase reach and impressions, spark social media activity, and drive purchase intent surrounding college football viewing and college football playoffs.

Ripple Street's Strategy                                                                                                                                                   Coronavirus has been a catalyst for a new type of sports fan experience. Ripple Street developed a multi-phased marketing campaign that included the active recruitment of a targeted subset of the 1.4M member community. Socially savvy Virtual House Party hosts received a $10 gift card to pick up Cheez-It® to enjoy with friends and watch the College Football Playoff National Championship on ESPN. Ripple Street provided participants with a fun game of Cheez-It^® Bingo, branded backgrounds, and of course the opportunity to enjoy Cheez-It^® together virtually.

Recruit High Quality, Engaged Consumers                                                                                                                     This unique at-home experience engaged and activated over 13,000 consumers who wanted to share their online and offline excitement for Cheez-It® snacks with friends and family. The campaign targeted Adults 18-49, who are passionate about College Football, plan to watch College Football Playoffs, and prioritizing those in Florida.

Deliver In-Home Product Trials and Engagement                                                                                                       6,875 Cheez-It® partygoers received a $10 gift card to pick up Cheez-It ® to enjoy with friends at their College Playoff virtual party. Once consumers had the product in hand, they continued to share their passion on social and were asked to post a review and share photos of their fun experiences, using the event’s hashtag.

Complete Post-Campaign Surveys                                                                                                                             Cheez-It® partygoers completed surveys on their College Football Virtual House Party experience, addressing questions ranging from brand favorability to purchase intent.

Cheez-It® Virtual House Party Exceeded Goals                                                                                                                        This one-of-a-kind sampling experience delivered to select consumers' homes resulted in genuine feedback, social engagement, and significant lifts in brand favorability (+22%), purchase intent (+30%), and intent to recommend (+36%).