PepsiCo brand Twisties brought together Robert Irwin and G-Flip to settle the score between cheese and chicken on The Great Flavour Debate.
The campaign, launched last year by media and creative agency VaynerMedia, and is a finalist for the TikTok Ad Awards in the Great Creative Campaign category. It saw a rise in brand volume and value growth as a result of its TikTok-driven approach and consumer engagement.
“Over the years, we’ve seen the fervour that Aussies have for their preferred Twisties flavour – chicken or cheese – so we had to finally put it to the people and see which flavour comes out on top,” Alessia Taddei, chief marketing officer of PepsiCo ANZ Snacks, said.
“Partnering with TikTok we saw some of the highest engagement we’ve ever seen on the brand, and we were delighted with the cultural movement and results the campaign generated. Go Chicken!”
Sparking the taste rivalry
As a 75-year-old Australian brand, Twisties was facing slipping sales and fading cultural resistance despite legendary status and rivalry between the chicken and cheese flavours.
The brand needed to reignite the passion, drive engagement and remind Australians of Twisties by sparking the debate between the cheese and chicken flavours with a campaign that can spark a cultural movement and drive authentic engagement.
Bringing the debate to life
Last year, the PepsiCo brand launched the controversial hybrid flavour ‘Chickeese’, sparking a mock national flavour crisis. To settle the debate, the Chicken vs. Cheese debate was reignited with Australia’s Official Twisties Election.
Twisties brought candidates to represent both flavours: Irwin (@robertirwin) for Team Chicken, and G Flip (@gflipmusic) for Team Cheese. Both campaigned for their respective sides in a bid to rally Australians to vote for their favourite flavour.
The brand brought the debate to life for the campaign using TikTok’s TopView and InFeed Reach ads to optimise its visibility and engagement.
TopView placements announced the election and introduced ‘Chickeese’, which ensured mass awareness from day one, capturing user attention with premium placement.
In-Feed Spark Ads drew attention to the flavour rivalry, sparking engagement and user-generated content with Australians. The campaign also used In-Feed Reach which extended this impact, reaching millions of users and maintaining high engagement at a cost-efficient eCPM.
The Great Flavour Debate concluded with a nationwide vote to settle the debate and crown Australia’s favourite flavour. Over 25,000 fans cast their votes, and the chicken flavour was crowned as the nation’s favourite Twisties flavour.
Driving culture to deliver sales
The Great Flavour Debate campaign’s TikTok forward campaign exceeded expectations, resulting in a 31.3% uplift in ad recall and an 18.1% brand awareness increase.
Brand Favourability also rose by 2.3%, and audience penetration exceeded expectations at 57%, surpassing the 50% target.
“We saw extremely strong engagement through the TikTok comments section – flowing into general discourse and conversations with our Twisties fans across the nation,” Twisties spokesperson said.
“This was a testament to how the platform drives culture in Australia… with that groundswell delivering excellent sales growth for Twisties (both Chicken and Cheese!) during the campaign.”
Top image: Robert Irwin and G-Flip