Challenge
Pringles, the iconic crisp brand, wanted to reach consumers in their homes and to elevate digital socialising during these uncertain times. TikTok creators were already using Pringles cans in creative and fun ways so the brand wanted to build on this by launching the #PlayWithPringles challenge on the popular video-sharing platform.
Key campaign objective
To generate mass brand awareness with a new audience of digital natives and to encourage playful engagement.
Process
The #PlayWithPringles challenge was launched in Germany, Italy and France earlier this year. The simple challenge encouraged TikTok users to get creative with the iconic Pringles tube through dance, forced perspective, comedy, music and more. At a time when most people were socialising online, the challenge encouraged playful engagement with Pringles, and the campaign has become the catalyst for fun, creative self-expression and community engagement.
Pringles launched the challenge by working with well-known TikTok creators in each market who kickstarted the campaign with their creative inspiration and gave the campaign maximum exposure. With the simplicity of the challenge being the key to its success, thousands of other creators quickly followed, bringing their unique and creative take on the challenge.
Many ‘jumped’ into the can to change clothes, some passed it from one screen to another and others used clever editing and effects on the platform to create magic around the can. Whatever the creative approach, the Pringles can is front and centre in each video.
The challenge was supported by a variety of promotions on the platform. These include One Day Max, where videos are shown in feeds for one day, TopView which displays a 5-60 second full-screen vertical video with sound-on when the app is opened and TopView Lite, which displays three-second image or 3-5 second sound-off, full-screen vertical video when the app is opened. Used together, these solutions increased exposure for the organically booming challenge page.
Creativity & innovation
Tapping into the insight of growing internet usage, Pringles wanted to bring its playful energy to people’s homes and encourage fun. TikTok, one of the fastest growing social networks in the world, was identified as the perfect platform to connect with consumers. By tapping into part of a wider TikTok trend, Pringles looked to the challenge mechanic to generate brand awareness.
Keeping the challenge simple and placing creators front and centre of the campaign were pivotal in the campaign’s success. Identifying the right TikTok influencers who aligned with Pringles’ fun personality was another factor in the success. These creators had a big following and influence which kickstarted the challenge and encouraged others users to give it a try. Using the iconic Pringles can as the catalyst for fun ensured the product was always front and centre in each video.
Results
The campaign broke the benchmarks – exposure, engagement and user-generated content all grew at an explosive rate. It generated an astounding 278M+ video views from over 343K user-generated content entries, across all markets. The campaign went on to amass over one billion challenge page views. It also drew in a whopping 13% average engagement rate, between the three markets, showing that the TikTok community not only connected with Pringles but also thrived off its playful energy.
The incredible success of the #PlayWithPringles challenge was down to a number of factors. Don’t overthink the creative, sometimes the simplest ideas achieve the most impressive results. Pringles didn’t set many rules or guidelines but allowed TikTok users to play with the can and have fun. Putting creators at the front and centre of the campaign enabled the brand to move the needle quickly. The TikTok community is incredibly creative and loves to engage, it should be no surprise to any brand that, with the right ingredients, a fun and enjoyable campaign can really spark explosive reach which is exactly what Pringles did.
