Frito-Lay's unskippable moments

Faced with growing adoption of ad avoidance technology and with consumers spending increasing amounts of time in ad-free/ad-light environments, Frito-Lay partnered with BEN to embed its brands directly in-content and create a new form of “unskippable”advertising.

James Clarke, senior director of media, analytics and CRM at Frito Lay, says that: “Strategic product placement in content distributed across popular streaming services has helped further align our brands with culturally relevant talent and key moments of situational salience. This approach complements our more traditional advertising, and shores up our branded presence in ad-free/ad-light environments while also ensuring we are being additive to consumer experience in these channels, versus seeking solely to disrupt it.”

As part of this effort BEN developed a product placement program to reach consumers in the non-ad supported media. BEN targeted productions that mirrored the portfolio’s participating brand target demographics and worked closely with key industry contacts, effectively securing a variety of premium integrations within music videos, streaming, premium cable and film. BEN integrated the Frito-Lay portfolio of brands including Doritos, Cheetos, Lay’s, Tostitos, Ruffles and Smartfood throughout videos from top artists, including Lizzo, Katy Perry, Khalid and Lil Nas X. In addition, BEN secured placements across multiple top tier streaming platforms including Netflix’s top performing shows, Apple TV+’s Mythic Quest and Little Voice, and premium cable integrations in the reboot of The L Word and highly acclaimed Work in Progress.

The campaign also saw success in film, with integrations in the highly anticipated sequel Bill and Ted Face the Music. The campaign delivered explosive viewership, racking up over 100 million views. More importantly, the campaign delivered impact on key brand KPIs, including brand recall, purchase consideration, and favorability scores.

The rise of product placement and influencer marketing, created in partnership with BEN, explores the latest developments and capabilities available to marketers through brand integration, with insights, tips, and case studies to inspire your next big campaign. Download this critical intelligence today.