Doritos Conjures Up a Scary Good Halloween Campaign

Get ready to hear about a snacktacular success! Doritos, the iconic Frito-Lay brand, won a Graphis Design 2023 Gold Award for their limited-time flavor, Doritos Twisted Lime. The PepsiCo Design & Innovation team wanted to remain relevant during Halloween, a crowded holiday with many brands vying for attention. They did so by launching a tasty and unique design to complement the new flavor. To amplify the reach of the limited-time offering, they developed a creative media kit and a breakthrough narrative and visual language. The team’s efforts resulted in a successful Halloween campaign, with impressive results, proving that Doritos remains a bold and relevant brand.

By: PepsiCo Design & Innovation

“Doritos is a Frito-Lay brand embedded in pop culture. Its iconic flavors and edgy marketing spark conversations in social media, bring creativity to recipes and snack hacks, and ignites occasions enabling self-expression in consumers and fans.

“Halloween was an excellent opportunity to remain relevant in key moments of the year when consumers are having fun. But it’s a crowded holiday with many brands communicating simultaneously. The Doritos strategy was to launch and sell a reduced quantity of a unique limited-time flavor (Doritos Twisted Lime) exclusively on Snacks.com (FLNA Direct-to-Consumer platform) during a key holiday moment (Halloween). In addition, the team wanted to develop and leverage a creative media kit for the social giveaway and influencer outreach, amplifying the consumer reach, infusing the brand into the cultural conversation, and driving traffic to the Snacks.com site. 

“Doritos Twisted Lime is a fan favorite with tangy mouthwatering lime flavor and a touch of heat. It’s an ideal flavor to excite fans during Halloween and break through the confectionary and chocolate category, known to dominate this occasion. Our Frito-Lay Design team was tasked to design and execute a Doritos Twisted Lime breakthrough narrative and visual language that fit the occasion and was uniquely Doritos. The objective was to create an engaging story to capture fans’ attention and create a sense of urgency (motivated by its limited-release nature) to drive our consumers online to purchase our one-of-a-kind bags while generating buzz around the packaging innovation.”

With a Unique Flavor and Visually Stunning Design, Doritos’ Twisted Lime Halloween Campaign Successfully Captured the Essence of Halloween and Wowed Fans with a One-of-a-Kind Experience

“Under the theme “The Secret Society of the Triangle,” the Halloween Campaign design team brought to life a story where chosen fans could become triangle (a.k.a Doritos) secret followers and have a taste of a spooky, bold flavor. The kit contained an engraved lapel pin as an identifier of the club and a unique triangle bag of Doritos Twisted Lime flavored chips.

“The team also created a visual identity used at every touch point, like social media and Digital communications, to drive excitement and craft a consistent story. We used black as the base color to ignite intrigue in contrast with a lime green that speaks to our Twisted Lime flavor, creating the perfect match for the Halloween occasion. Plus, we chose a font that reflects the Secret Society idea, and taglines such as “Twisted Bite. Crunchy Lime” set the tone for a bold design.” 

“The cross-functional efforts for this project showed great success, with 500 bags sold from 211 orders, 3,619 website visits (through 10/31), 41.1 MM+ media impressions, and a +12% increase in Snacks.com conversion. This was a spooktacular success in which the Doritos brand confirmed its relevance and boldness during key holidays.”

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