Frito-Lay Lays the Standard: All Chip Brands Take a Top Spot
Frito-Lay engages in Twitter debate for a “good challenge.”
PRESS RELEASE UPDATED: MARCH 15, 2019
GAINESVILLE, Fla., March 15, 2019, (PRWeek.com)—Based on PRWeek Latest News, this week’s news topics cover the importance of the effect that social media, specifically Twitter, has on a company’s image and products. In response to rapid technological advancements, there has been a rise in advanced technology, media platforms, devices, and social media applications. In recent years, social media has drastically increased in users. Social media is now an online presence for companies to share their brand and interact with consumers. Social media allows companies or individuals to post pictures, videos, stories, tweets, replies, and other forms of communication on various platforms to engage audiences. On social media, the Pop-Tart company takes to social media to debunk the fake Pop-Tart flavors rumors as not real flavors, but photo-shopped images created by consumers. Pop-Tart uses these fake flavor rumors as an opportunity to engage in a fun and self-aware way that is in-line with its brand image. On National Cereal Day, multiple brands took to social media to celebrate the day on Twitter. What was intended to be fun, engaging posts, ended up being unappetizing videos of the Fruit Gushers, Busch Beer, and Modell’s Sporting Goods brands trying to incorporate their product with National Cereal Day. With the rise of social media, one has seen the introduction of “influencers.” Specifically, with Instagram, brands have taken to influencers to promote their products on their personal social media accounts. Recently, Instagram has shifted to make the influencer marketing process more transparent. Twitter has also served as a platform for companies to engage in debate or a “good challenge.” In the past week, a social media influencer posted a video on Twitter asking people for the correct way to rate a variety pack of chips. The video went viral, with Twitter users reacting to the video by responding or sharing the tweet. The company, Frito-Lay saw the online debate as an opportunity and joined in on the online discussion.
One company that used social media to its brand's advantage this past week was the Frito-Lay company with its reaction to a viral video posted by a social media influencer. Social media influencer and comedian Kevin Fredericks, known on Twitter as @KevOnStage, posted a tweet containing a video asking his followers for the correct way to rank a variety pack of chips. Fredericks’ tweet went viral, receiving more than 20,000 retweets, 72,000 likes, and 3,200 comments and counting. The variety pack of chips contained two of the Frito-Lay brands, Fritos and Cool Ranch Doritos, which were trending on the Twitter platform after Frederick’s initial post. The other chips in the variety pack included Barbecue and Classic Lay’s, Classic Doritos, and Cheetos. The company noticed the online discussion when Frederick posted the video on Sunday and then saw an increase in audience traction pick up at night and early Monday morning. Chris Yemma, Frito-Lay North America’s Director of Brand Communications stated, “It’s great to have influential fans out there starting conversations about our brands. We always work to find ways to join the conversation right away, but in an authentic way.” The Frito-Lay company saw this online media debate as an opportunity to interact with consumers and a “good challenge.” In response to the debate, Frito-Lay used this opportunity as a way to engage with the Frito-Lay channels and serve as one voice on behalf of all the chip brands presented. Serving as one voice, Frito-Lay created a safe response, tweeting that all the chip brands involved in the viral video “take a top spot for us.” Frito-Lay plans to supply plenty of snacks to Frederick’s comedy tour. From the viral video, Yemma notes that the best strategy is to join the conversation and engage in an authentic manner. By engaging in an authentic manner, it “helps show that we’re more than a corporate entity; [that] we’re all about delighting our fans and engaging them with fun content like this,” says Yemma.
Overall, the articles of PRWeek's Latest News showed the importance and impact that social media has on products and a company’s image. The articles listed above show how companies are able to use social media to promote the brand’s image, as well as engage in interactive content with followers. In the case of the Pop-Tarts false flavor rumors, the company was able to take to Twitter to defend rumors of false flavors that were being photo-shopped by Twitter users. Pop-Tarts used the fake-news products to engage with its consumer audience in a fun and self-aware way that promoted the brand’s credibility. Since the false flavors of Pop-Tart have been a consistent problem, the company responds to these rumors in a fun way to provoke further conversation with its followers. Pop-Tarts does this with either a direct response to users or in a tweet to reach a broader follower audience. Thus, this specific instance shows how social media is an important player of brand image and communication with consumers. In response to National Cereal Day, brands took to Twitter to join in on the series of tweets in honor of the national holiday. Unfortunately, the brands Fruit Gushers, Busch Beer, and Modell’s Sporting Goods received negative and poor feedback for their unappetizing videos. This situation shows the power of social media to make or break a brand’s image. In the case of these specific brands, the videos failed and according to a poll by PRWeek, “ruined #NationalCerealDay on Twitter.” Instagram has made the decision to allow brands to promote influencer posts in order to make the influencer marketing process more transparent to users. This is relevant in today’s society by showing the increase of influencer marketing on social media as a new form of marketing. While the influencer market industry has potential, social media influencers have received backlash from the usage of bots and fake engagement tactics. An example being the Fyre Festival scandal that emphasized transparency and accountability issues with influencer marketing. The company, Frito-Lay was able to take an online media debate fueled by a viral video and turn it into an opportunity to engage with its consumer in a genuine way. The company chose to serve as one voice on behalf of all the chip brands and make the statement all the chip brands involved “take a top spot for us.” Thus, this situation highlights the importance of positive engagement with consumers through social media interactions. The situation also highlights the brand’s image as to being based on its consumers’ needs and wants.
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