About The Podcast:

Bold brands are always taking chances on creative ad campaigns and salacious PR stunts to stand out from the crowd to get customers’ attention and money.

Join marketing junkies Melissa & Alexis weekly for some creative inspiration as they explore crazy marketing moments in history that, whether they flourished or failed, got the world’s attention. They break down the details to find out: Will It Stick?

About The Hosts:

Alexis Krisay and Melissa DiGianfilippo are marketing junkies at their core. The long-time friends also happen to be business partners since 2008 when they started their PR, creative & marketing agency Serendipit Consulting. Based in Phoenix and serving clients nationally, Serendipit is a full-service creative and PR agency that practices Ideation Evolution – the process of blending imagination with core values to produce a continual state of creativity and consistency in an organization or culture.

Serendipit’s clients are constant creators – leaders who are in pursuit of challenge and change. They want to win without compromising their values and have fun along the way. From the development of eye-catching creative campaigns to the implementation of KPI-driven marketing to making sure the right people know the brand’s story – Serendipit partners with clients to get results.

Episodes

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077: PR Stunts Round Up: September 2022

It's time for September's PR stunts and campaigns round-up! The brands we cover this month include: Tide, Mint Mobile + Arizona Iced Tea, Heinz, Draft Kings, Guitar Center + Southwest Airlines, M&Ms and My Little Pony.

076: INTERVIEW: Bob Roth & Gatorade’s Be Like Mike Campaign

Recently, we covered Gatorade's "Be Like Mike" campaign, which has gone down in history as one of the most iconic and memorable advertising campaigns in the history of sports marketing. Featuring Michael Jordan, this campaign origin story is full of twists and turns that involve an insane brand feud between Gatorade and Powerade (owned by Coke) and so much more. Join us as we chat with Bob Roth, former Regional Cold Channel Manager for Gatorade during the brand's iconic Be Like Mike campaign. Bob shares some behind-the-scenes information and a unique perspective on what the campaign did for the company.

075: Chick-fil-A & Eat Mor Chikin

Chick-fil-A and its iconic Eat Mor Chikin advertising campaign featuring cows begging humans to choose chicken over beef was born out of necessity and lots of trial and error. How was a fast-food restaurant that exclusively served chicken and was only open 6 days a week going to compete with the big burger joints that offered larger menus, were open 7 days a week and had way bigger advertising budgets? EAT MOR CHIKIN! The story behind the creation of this campaign and the results it generated will blow your mind.

Episode Summary:

Welcome to Will It Stick? podcast, where hosts and marketing experts Melissa and Alexis cover creative advertising campaigns, PR stunts, and marketing activations that brands of all shapes and sizes pull, and dive into the research and data to understand if it worked and of course ... Will It Stick?

Chick-fil-A started way back in 1946! It was started by Samuel Truett Cathy, but it was originally called Dwarf Grill in Hapeville, Georgia and was situated near the now-demolished Ford Motor Company Atlanta Assembly Plant and for years it was the place where all the employees would eat. In 1961 after 15 years of running that one restaurant, he found a pressure-fryer that could cook the chicken sandwich in the same amount of time it took to cook a fast food hamburger. He saw a big opportunity and he registered the name Chick-fil-A, Inc. For years, from 1964-1967 he actually just licensed the sandwich to over 50 different restaurants including Waffle House. But, in 1967 Truett decided it was time to make Chick-fil-A a restaurant and it opened its first location in the food court of the Greenbriar Mall in Atlanta and it pulled its licensed sandwiches from all the other restaurants.

It took off from there, expanding into primarily mall food courts through the 70s and into the 80s. It opened its first freestanding location in 1986 and began to move toward that model slowly into the early 90s… and when it moved to that model it suddenly faced a whole new batch of competitors … big burger joints like McDonalds and Burger King. And that’s where our story officially begins.

A chicken restaurant was basically the underdog against these big burger chains, which BIG big budgets. Basically, they were spending more money on their ad campaigns in a single week than Chick-fil-a could spend in one whole year. PLUS, don’t forget that Chick-fil-a only has 6 days each week in which they can capture revenue, since they are closed on Sundays. So this new freestanding model was a bit harder than they initially anticipated.

So, they decided they needed a stand out ad campaign, but their budget was not huge. Their budget was so small that they couldn’t even dive into TV advertising at all - so they decided the route would be three dimensional billboards… and that was a pretty new product in adverting at that point…almost no one was doing it.

They put out a search and they landed on The Richards Group, a Dallas-based firm that wasn’t one of the big ones. Actually it’s a funny story that Adweek reported on in 2016 in a really great story they did all about this campaign. So Stan Richards, the founder and creative director of the agency is in a staff meeting in 1994 when he found out he won the Chick-fil-a account. Guess how he found out, Lex? Not by a phone call, no email, it was 94 so a little early for that…not even by FAX. He found out when the VP of national marketing of Chick-fil-a made a quick trip from Atlanta to Dallas and arrive, unannounced and just walked into the meeting. He interrupted the conversation and grabbed Richards’ hand and shook it and said “we want you to be our new agency.” What an amazing way to kickoff a relationship, right?

And he also told him “we’ll never be your biggest client, but we will do everything we can do to be your best client.”

OK so The Richards Group has the account. They go to work and they start with some data - they need to know exactly where Chick-fil-a stands when it comes to brand awareness. They conducted some focus groups and found that people really didn’t think of Chick-fil-A at all when asked about their favorite fast food chains. So they had their work cut out for them and they had to do it on billboards. They knew they needed a simple, clear message with a strong visual especially since the client wanted this 3D component. They needed something that would seriously stand out.

So they jumped in and they launched their first billboard.

an image of a rubber chicken with a Chick-fil-A logo. Actually the first version had no logo or tagline at all, and it got people curious…who just puts a giant rubber chicken on a billboard!? But then they added the logo with the tagline after people got curious enough about it…It was a cute idea, and got some attention but didn’t really stick or move the needle a ton.

So they tried again. The next one was brought in a 3D element…. Check this out:

This one got more attention, and supposedly the president of Coca-Cola at the time loved the idea, calling up the Chick-fil-A team to compliment them on the clever ad. But still, it wasn’t it.

So try #3: Remember it’s 1995 - what was one of the most popular TV shows that year? Hint: it was a cartoon…The Simpsons! And Lex, do you remember Bart Simpons’ most iconic catch phrase? Don’t have a cow, man! That’s what sparked the whole concept. CRAZY RIGHT?!

So, they put a classic chicken sandwich on a billboard and used the line “don’t have a cow” next to it.

The idea was solid, but there was no 3D element and the product shot of the sandwhich just wasn’t working right. It’s not what Chick-fil-a wanted because that’s what EVERY OTHER fast food chain did. They would feature their food and a low price. That was the formula and Chick-fil-a couldn’t afford to be the SAME.

So one day, an art director at The Richards Group was driving down a Dallas highway on his way home for lunch, and he was REALLY hungry, and a billboard caught his eye. It actually wasn’t what was ON the billboard that caught his eye, it was the people installing the billboard. He wondered what would happen if the team of workers were feeling as hungry as he was and they decided to up and take a lunch break in the middle of the install. What would that look like, with a half finished ad? He brought this idea back to the team and they ran with it.

So now it’s take #4 and this billboard featured another product shot of food, but on the right hand side the billboard was all white and on top of the white space it was a scribbled note that said “Boss, got hungry, back soon” with a yellow ladder posted up hanging below the note.

It was fun, it got attention, it was closer….but it still wasn’t exactly IT. So they decided to combine a few things. They really like the “Don’t have a Cow” concept, and they really liked this handwritten note concept. They asked themselves “who else doesn’t want people to have a cow?” and then Lex, a lightbulb went off.

COWS. COWS don’t want people to “have a cow” because cows would prefer not to be eaten, we’d assume. They’d prefer you eat chicken. Suddently the ideas were flowing, why not use cows to tell the story? Put cows on the billboard and let them beg for people to choose chicken instead of them. And what if the cows were 3D and they were on the billboard ledges like the people putting up the actual art, painting the messages themselves. They would beg the people: Don’t Eat Cows. Eat More Chicken.

Lex - how do you think the client felt about it? They freaking LOVED IT. And fans of the chain fell in love with it, so much so that a few years into the campaign by like 2001, Chick Fil Et was selling something likek $13 million in merchandise related to the cows and the ads!

No one else was doing anything like this! This wasn’t the formula that fast food chains knew, but this worked insanely well. It eventually expanded into TV ads, digital ads, social media, water towers, on foul pouls inside baseball stadiums, even a cow calendar with a new piece of cow creative each month along with a coupon. There were never a shortage of creative cows campaigns.

So they struck gold with this campaign and they were able to iterate on it for 20 whole years! It never got old - cows telling humans to eat chicken instead of them captured our hearts and our dollars. And it seriously, seriously captured our dollars. Get these stats: In 1995, the year before the cows campaign was officially launched, revenue was $501 million. In 1996, it increased to $569 million, ‘97 $672 million and by 2000 Lex - 1 billion in sales of chicken.

When this campaign was in its infancy in 2001, Chick Fil A was spending somewhere between $8-$10 million in advertising per year. In 2021, Chick-fil-et spent $155 million in advertign, and to put it in perspective - that’s like 15th overall for fast food chain in spending. McDonalds spent $459 million in advertising.

Chick-fil-et did $5.8 billion revenue in 2021. But what’s totally insane is that Chick Fil a does more revenue per store than any other fast food chain In 2021, in fact, a typical stand-alone Chick-fil-A outside of the mall generated more than $8.1 million in revenues. That is bonkers.

A McDonald’s store typically brings in around $3 million in annual revenue.

The Richards Group kept the account for a full 22 years, until 2016 when Chick-fil-a got a new VP of brand strategy and media. I’m sure that was a sad day for the agency but they freaking crushed it and I’m sure they are insanely proud. In fact the founder of the agency was quoted in an interview after they lost the account - splitting it up to a bunch of agencies with McCann New York owning the creative - saying that in 20 years there wasn’t a single piece of work they put out for the brand that he wasn’t proud of. They have been moving onto new concepts since - and the cows are still around but they aren’t all that the brand is doing anymore.

Oh wait one thing that I totally forgot about - remember in 2004 when it was that crazy mad cow disease scare? They did pause the campaign for a few months during that time apparently to not seem insensitive to their cow serving competitors.

Listen Now:

Resources:

Follow Will It Stick on Instagram and check out our website.

https://www.chick-fil-a.com/stories/inside-chick-fil-a/20-years-of-cows

https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2001/02/05/story5.html

https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/chicken-beef-untold-story-chick-fil-cow-campaign-171834/

https://www.sj-r.com/story/business/2015/07/14/meet-cows-behind-chick-fil/33840507007/

https://www.mashed.com/314340/what-you-never-knew-about-the-chick-fil-a-cow-mascots/
https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/financing/average-unit-volumes-stand-alone-chick-fil-are-insane

074: (ENCORE) Dos Equis & The Most Interesting Man in the World

In honor of being named the Best Marketing Podcast of 2022 by Adweek, we are replaying some of our fan-favorite episodes! What does a bad date and two frustrated 25-year old employees have to do with how Dos Equis' most iconic mascot was born? The Most Interesting Man in the World campaign by Dos Equis has a backstory you would never have imagined! It was essentially created out of spite and ended up being one of the most iconic and memorable ad campaigns, taking Dos Equis from an obscure Mexican beer with so-so regional sales to be one of the leading beers in the U.S.?

073: PR Stunts Round Up: August 2022

We're back with our monthly round-up of the best (and worst) PR stunts and experiential marketing activations and campaigns. For our August 2022 edition, we cover: - Burger King & Uber Eats - Patron Enters the Metaverse -Tito's Mocks Canned Seltzers -Kidfresh Launches Wine Pairings for Nugget-Stealing Parents -Fancy Feast NYC Restaurant (yes, the cat food) -Instacart Crashes VMAs with Cart Couture

Episode Summary:

Welcome to Will It Stick? podcast, where hosts and marketing experts Melissa and Alexis cover creative advertising campaigns, PR stunts, and marketing activations that brands of all shapes and sizes pull, and dive into the research and data to understand if it worked and of course ... Will It Stick?

It's time for our August 2022 Brand PR Stunts Round-Ups.

Here’s our recap for August 2022:

Burger King and Uber Eats Messy Eaters

In the UK this month, Burger King partnered with Uber Eats to offer a new deal for anyone who orders BK’s messy bacon and cheese-loaded fries - and this deal promises to save your face AND reduce your laundry load.

When customers order this exclusive Uber Eats menu item, they will be entered into a raffle to win a custom adult bib. Because if you are ordering bacon and cheese loaded fries from Burger King, certainly they want an adult bib so you don’t have to stress out over sauce dribbling down your face and onto your clothes. These limited edition bibs are custom made to catch all of those falling bacon bits.

Apparently, 55% of clumsy Brits admit to being unfortunately splatter-prone, with wayward spills finding their way on to clothing at least once per week, according to Burger King research. The most dangerous foods to keep around fresh linen were cited as spaghetti and soup. The more you know.

Patrón Enters the MetaVerse

Patron invited fans to attend the Patron “Tequilaverse,” A virtual pop-up experience where visitors went on quests to win a trip to Mexico - a four night stay in a condo in Punta Mita - we were just there earlier this year we LOVED IT. The pop up operated August 12-14 and 19-21 via the browser-based VR platform Decentraland. Consumers went on a series of quests to make Patrón cocktails. After completing all three quests, they were entered into a sweepstakes to win a trip to Mexico. I’m OBSESSED. Basically, you had to create your own character, then you had to go on a quest to gather ingreatideants to make a paloma, a Patron Silver and soda and a Patron Anejo highball. You could also unlock NFT wearables on your journey.

“At Patrón, we celebrate creative communities like the metaverse that bring people together in a digital world. With this new venture, we hope to spark curiosity, creativity and connection this summer while offering our tequila fans a new way to experience the mastery behind our brand.”

The venture into the metaverse follows the January launch of Patrón’s first NFT. The brand sold 150 bottles of a limited-edition Chairman’s Reserve aged añejo tequila through BlockBar, with each purchase accompanied by a cryptographic version of the product.

Tito’s Mocks Canned Cocktails

It doesn’t just SEEM like every alcohol brand is making a seltzer these days, it’s a freaking fact.

If you think Tito's seltzer is too good to be true, you’re right. The brand used the canned cocktail craze to create their own can. The catch? It’s empty.

The product was complete with a hilarious advertisement and the tagline “We don’t make seltzers, you do.” Consumers can buy the insulated aluminum can online for 20 dollars, with net proceeds being donated towards non-profits. They certainly know their target audience, as the video received overwhelmingly positive support on social media.

Wine for Nugget Stealing Parents

This one is just perfection, for me Lex. Have you heard of the frozen meal brand Kidfresh? Delicious frozen kids’ meals packed with hidden veggies + lots of nutrition. They sell them at Target. Anyway, Kidfresh launched a new product… they created two wines to pair perfectly with the food that busy parents steal off of their kids plates.The brand. Kidfresh reserve, used data to find that 81% of parents admit to stealing food off their kids’ plates. I will tell you that 100% of the time I steal my kids nuggets. The limited edition wines Chardonuggets and Red Wagon. The stunt didn’t get a lot of attention on social media at all - and I was SO disappointed with the TikTok video the put together for this… way too commercial and they could have done something SO HILARIOUS, but it’s a cute and clever idea.

Fancy Feast Restaurant in NYC

I’m not really a cat person. Actually I’m not a cat person AT ALL. But, I am familiar with Fancy Feast - are you? Well it’s a cat food brand and they decided to create a cat-themed Italian trattoria this past month in an effort to celebrate the brand’s new recipes for its Medleys’ collection ...the restaurant was named Gatto Bianco and it was a pop up in New York’s meat packing district and created in partnership with a Michelin-starred chef. Human attendees were served beautifully plated courses presented at tables with golden cutlery and cloth napkins with the Fancy Feast logo. The Fancy Feast cat himself made appearances and posed for pics, and guests received gift bags filled with human-pleasing goodies including a heart-shaped food mold, pasta-making tools, an apron and cutting board etched with the brand’s logo, bags of seasonings and a massive cookbook autographed by James Beard Award-nominated chef Cesare Casella.

According to a spokesperson for Fancy Feast, this stunt was supposed to be give cat owners an insight into their pets (whatever that means)

“We hope that it’s a window to help cat lovers get to know a little more [about] how their cats see food,” he said. “How they experience food. How they love the variety and the forms and textures. So they can come a little closer to their cats and understand them a little better. We like to think that food has the power to connect us.”

Fancy Feast’s in-house chef, Amanda Hassner, was on hand to guide guests through the sensory experience of the night’s first course, which she deemed an “exploration of textures.”

Only 16 cat lovers who were quick enough to snap up the OpenTable reservations got to take part in this.

Couture Dress at VMAs was an ad for Instacart

You can now turn your event wear into a secret carrier of snacks! Instacart broke all the snack rules at this year’s VMAs on Aug. 28 - did you watch it? Well, they took to the red carpet with SNL actress and comedian Chloe Fineman and she was dressed in what they called “Cart Couture”. This outfit was literally made to hack the event’s “no outside food” policy - how you ask? Well this dress incoporated a variety of snack textures like rock candy, gum balls and gummy bears. She literally wore the snacks and then handed them out to other snack-depirved celebs. This stunt was dreamed up by the brands agency Droga5.

Listen Now:

Resources:

Follow Will It Stick on Instagram and check out our website.

https://www.thedrum.com/news/2022/08/18/messy-eaters-can-now-tuck-with-adult-bibs-burger-king-and-uber-eats

https://www.adweek.com/creativity/patron-invites-fans-to-the-patrontequilaverse-a-virtual-pop-up-experience/

https://www.delish.com/food-news/a40784248/titos-in-a-can/

https://www.titosvodka.com/titos-in-a-can/

https://www.adweek.com/creativity/kidfresh-creates-a-wine-just-for-nugget-stealing-parents/

https://www.adweek.com/commerce/inside-fancy-feast-restaurant-people-cats-insights/

https://www.adweek.com/creativity/this-couture-dress-for-the-vmas-was-actually-an-ad-for-instacart/

072: Uber Gets Weird with PR Stunts

"The best companies become verbs" - that's according to Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. That puts Uber in the best company category ... Uber has become a verb in record time. So how exactly does a brand become a verb? We uncover some of the greatest (and weirdest) PR stunts Uber has pulled to stand out and rake in a whopping $25 billion in annual revenue -- AND GROWING.

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About The Podcast:

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Episodes

077: PR Stunts Round Up: September 2022

Episode Summary:

Ryan Reynolds infuses Mint Mobile with AriZona tea style price savings (sort of)

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076: INTERVIEW: Bob Roth & Gatorade’s Be Like Mike Campaign

Episode Summary:

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075: Chick-fil-A & Eat Mor Chikin

Episode Summary:

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074: (ENCORE) Dos Equis & The Most Interesting Man in the World ￼

Episode Summary:

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073: PR Stunts Round Up: August 2022

Episode Summary:

Listen Now:

Resources:

072: Uber Gets Weird with PR Stunts

Episode Summary:

Listen Now:

Resources:

Contact

074: (ENCORE) Dos Equis & The Most Interesting Man in the World