Dueling US chip brands have encountered different fates with their new campaigns in the first quarter of this year.
Lay’s recent campaign inviting fans to vote for a new permanent flavor to its line-up, has barely budged consumer ad awareness, while Doritos has leveraged the Super Bowl and its joint-promotion with restaurant chain Taco Bell to drive much higher ad awareness.
For three months, Lay’s ramped up their national “Do Us A Flavor” promotion inviting consumers to vote on Cheesy Garlic Bread, Chicken and Waffles or Sriracha to decide which become permanent new flavors. However, YouGov BrandIndex’s Ad Awareness score for Lay’s made very little headway, remaining nearly flat.
Doritos, on the other hand, experienced a six-week boost in Ad Awareness for its annual “Crash The Super Bowl” campaign. And just when it looked like scores were coming back to earth, a confluence of events seem to have halted the slide and kept Doritos above its pre-Super Bowl levels: the simultaneous launches of its second Taco Bell joint venture, Cool Ranch Locos Tacos, as well as its “For The Bold” global marketing campaign with the Jon Favreau-directed ad, “Valet.”
For consumer perception of the brands, however, the bloom may be off the rose. Both Lay’s and Doritos have seen their general impression levels subside over the last two weeks, despite their Ad Awareness stories.
Lay’s and Doritos were measured with two of YouGov BrandIndex’s measurements. Ad Awareness asks respondents “Which of the following brands have you seen an advertisement for in the past two weeks?” That score can range from 0-100%. Impression score asks respondents: "Do you have a general positive feeling about the brand?" That score can range from 100 to -100 and is compiled by subtracting negative feedback from positive. A zero score means equal positive and negative feedback.
Ad Awareness: Lay's, Doritos
Impression: Lay's, Doritos
