Oh Us? We’re Just Here For The Stacks.

Let’s get the boring stats stuff out of the way first. Owing to an elevated at-home demand, the snack category struck gold last year as a result of consumers turning to indulgent/familiar foods to get them through the upheaval that was the COVID-19 pandemic, seeing a 186% growth in sales. As consumers faced the prospects of spending weeks at home, both retail and consumer channels ‘stacked’ on non-perishable food items in their respective shelves making for a year-long snack-fest. Or shall we say, a stack-fest.

But the stacks we’re focusing on at hand is Pringles. Yep, the low-surface area canister that contains delicious hyperbolic paraboloid/saddle shaped crisps efficiently stacked on top of the other. As I said in my previous blog, it’s always form over function when it comes to chips. For starters, Pringles lives up to this aphorism, by employing an innovative way to lure snack lovers recently. First, the Kellogg-backed company propelled its consumers into a world of ‘flavor-stacking’, touting the infinite possibilities around the phenomenon of mixing and matching different flavors.

Secondly, Julius Pringles got a character makeover earlier this year. The iconic Mr. P seems to inhabit a more evocative look and feel now–bold as ever with heightened expression reflecting the delightful snaxperience we all look for!

How has Pringles leveraged its digital presence amidst the rebranding AND a global pandemic to communicate with its consumers?

The primary channel for all Pringles communication is via Twitter, attracting their largest follower base of 466K amidst all social media platforms that they have a presence on (YouTube and Instagram). The key insight that Pringles uncovered during the pandemic was that people would look for ways to occupy their time during a lockdown (fascinating activities whether it came to cooking, working out or just entertaining themselves. To fill this gap and stay relevant, Pringles took to Twitter, activating two distinct lockdown-themed campaigns– #PringlesHomeGames, a contest where subscribers can showcase creative ways of using a Pringles can to innovate their own mini sport and #RealFakePringlesAd, a chance for consumers to make their own home-made Pringles advertisement, thus driving engagement on their feed.

In my opinion, Pringles jumping on the bandwagon of brands that stayed in touch with their user base during the pandemic was extremely effective, and worked in their favor. The snack market is saturated, which is why it is important for brands like Pringles to capitalize on ‘moment marketing’, with the ability to take advantage of ongoing consumer insights to elicit a positive relationship with the brand. The only aspect that fell short for me, was their tone-deafness in being sensitive about the ravaging effects the pandemic had on communities and families.

As brands foray into a new way of communicating with their consumers in a global pandemic setting, it is imperative that they stay positive, be empathetic, choose honesty over sensationalism, and prioritize quality over quantity. ​​In an incredibly complicated year, brands will continue to exist in a present continuous world, to ‘re-stack’ their vision, and simplify the buying process for their consumers.