You don’t have to be a Targaryen to know the value of a baby dragon.
When Doritos U.K. released a limited edition of extra-hot tortilla chips called Heatburst this past spring, it became part of the conversation on Twitter by creating its own “celebrity”—a comical, fire-breathing baby dragon—to represent the new flavor.
As described in the video below, the Heatburst campaign, with the hashtags #HeatWillCome and #BabyDragon, centered on the dragon character. It launched with a series of quirky videos where the baby dragon innocently ignited virtually everything around him. As awareness for the product grew, the baby dragon became a Twitter character in his own right, inserting himself into pop-culture moments and current events to keep the brand top of mind. Doritos U.K. did this using a full-range of Twitter formats, including branded emojis, GIFs, and conversational videos.
The #HeatWillCome campaign helped generate more than $3.8 million in U.K. sales during the product’s first three months on the market. It also contributed to double-digit value growth across the entire Doritos U.K. brand portfolio.
“Partnering with [Twitter] at an early stage enabled us to really bring the campaign come to life on the platform, making the most of all the different native functionalities and formats available,” says Zoe Plummer, digital lead for Doritos U.K. “The campaign has performed exceptionally well and been held up within PepsiCo as best in class.”
