It’s not like a cheese dip is always top of mind when tied to large scale and effective sponsorships, but one has found a niche through the world of college football this fall. Gordo’s Cheese Dip used not massive advertising, but old fashioned word of mouth and new age social media engagement to create a great deal of buzz and value add by attaching themselves OUTSIDE some of the biggest NCAA games this fall to find the ultimate tailgater, a natural connection to the snack product.
The search for the Gordo’s Ultimate Tailgater began on September 15, 2014 and continues through November 23, 2014. It includes some of the best college football teams including: Ole Miss vs. Boise State, Alabama vs. West Virginia, LSU vs. Auburn, Notre Dame vs. Florida State just to name a few.
The premise for this search for the ultimate fan is simple. The Gordo’s Cheese Dip video crew will be at each of these games, looking for fans who have an overabundance of school spirit. These rabble rousers will be interviewed on camera and from these interviews, three contestants will be chosen each week. The hashtag for this contest is easy to remember. It’s #GordosUTG. Fans are given a chance to vote for a weekly winner. These weekly winners will be lavished with a fabulous tailgate rig which includes two chairs a cooler, speakers and umbrella. Over the course of the season, Gordo’s is choosing eight winners and these fans will vie for the title of Big Cheese…the Gordo’s Ultimate Tailgater. Voting will continue for two weeks to determine which fan along with a companion gets to choose his/her favorite college bowl game to attend.
The video crew has hot the biggest strategic points, wandering parking lots looking for the best parties, many with no ties at all to the product until arrival. Some have been clued in by social media prompts beforehand, but the goal is to create an unabashed best practice scenario, with a great slice of tailgating from Atlanta to Tuscaloosa, from Tallahassee to South Carolina. The cost was minimal, the exposure very high as the crew concentrated on select southern markets with a payoff coming later this winter for winners. The win for Gordo’s is in the engagement of fans in a natural environment; they use viral video (over 8 million views to date) and photo walls to engage, and spend little on traditional advertising once the game starts. They take advantage of the wide open expanses of parking lots and the beauty of southern football, not to mention the he success of the SEC on the field this fall, to build affinity, awareness, and lots of fun. The product, and the campaign are not about major market spends. It is about finding ways to engage fans with an easy to understand product that fits their lifestyle.
The result is a low cost and highly effective win, even through mid-October. A well thought out and well executed program, with a little luck of the schedule thrown in for a smart snack brand.
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