Try something new / According to New Digital Age, ‘99% of Gen Z consumers will hit skip on an ad if it’s an option and nearly two-thirds (63%) use ad blockers to avoid online adverts.’ To engage with this younger audience in a way that appeals to them, it created an easy to play game (spot the triangle) and great prizes to get people to turn their surrounding environment into free media. And the brand didn’t just limit itself to one Gen Z friendly platform, it landed on numerous ones, such as Snapchat and TikTok on social, Fortnite for gaming and rapper Offset for cultural cachet. Each aspect delivered on the core mechanic of seeing Doritos/triangles in everyday life, and by incorporating all these avenues for people to engage with the brand, Doritos ensured it resonated with a younger target audience in a fun and memorable way.
Your best asset / Triangle Tracker is a brilliant example of a brand utilising and stretching the potential of its distinctive assets. Doritos has become synonymous with the triangle shape, but creating this mental availability has taken years of consistency. Speaking about distinctive assets, marketing expert and associate director at the Ehrenberg Bass Institute, Jenni Romaniuk, told us, ‘Once you’ve got a strong asset, you don’t need consistency of use. Once you have the form in people’s minds, you can challenge it and have fun with it.’ Here, Doritos illustrates that it has the global recognition to play with its assets but still retains its distinctiveness.
This campaign isn’t the first time the brand has had the confidence to do so. In 2019, Doritos launched a campaign removing its name from all advertising assets. By asserting its ownership of the triangle time and again, Doritos drives home the association, making sure people think of the brand whenever they see a triangle.
