Brief:

• Bush's Beans is urging customers to visit its social media channels as part of a campaign that kicked off for National Chili Day on Feb. 27, according to a press announcement.
• The packaged food brand collaborated with actor Brian Baumgartner, who played the chili-loving character Kevin on "The Office," to create branded content for GIF-sharing platform Giphy. The content includes GIFs and stickers for people to share in social media posts and mobile messages.
• Bush's and Baumgartner co-authored a chili recipe that fans can see on the brand's website and Instagram, Twitter and Facebook channels. "Brian's Famous Chili" has 17 ingredients, including two types of Bush's beans in a mild chili sauce, per the website.

Insight:

Bush's aims to tap into the continued popularity of "The Office" with a mobile-focused campaign featuring Baumgartner. Fans of the show might remember the episode when character Kevin brings an unwieldy vat of his "famous chili," which he only makes once a year, to work and immediately drops it on the floor.

Omg he did it again he made a delicious pot of chili pic.twitter.com/KiDgvmCmL8

— BUSH’S Beans (@BushsBeans) February 27, 2020

Bush's is the latest brand to run a campaign inspired by "The Office," which ended in 2013 but has found new life with Gen Z viewers thanks to streaming on Netflix (the show will move to NBCUniversal's upcoming Peacock service next year). Panera Bread and Heineken have also run campaigns inspired by the show, featuring actors who played beloved supporting roles.​

A focus on mobile GIFs and social media indicate that Bush's is attempting to engage a younger audience with the chili-focused push. By creating content for Giphy, Bush's could extend the campaign's reach as users share the GIFs and stickers among social media platforms and their friends.

Brands have embraced Giphy for creating viral content that engage smartphone audiences. Peanut butter brand Jif and burger chain Wendy's are among the more notable recent examples of brands that have launched campaigns with the GIF-sharing platform, with the former riffing on a controversy over the proper pronunciation of the moving image format.

Bush's Beans has become more savvy about its social media marketing in the past year. The brand last year boosted its Twitter impressions by 68 times and profile visits by 35 times after enlisting a superfan to handle its account.