Cheez-It hides stockpile of new snack for scavenger hunt

Dive Brief:

Kellogg Company's Cheez-It brand is promoting its new Snap'd cracker with a scavenger hunt, per a company announcement.
To reinforce the marketing message that the new crackers are so addictive that they could lead to a cheese shortage, the brand has hidden a healthy supply of the snack in a bunker somewhere in the U.S.
The brand will reveal clues about the bunker's whereabouts on its Twitter page beginning May 14. Whoever finds the hidden stash will win a year's supply of the cracker. Other contest prizes include a one-year subscription to a video streaming service, as well as a flat-screen TV.

Dive Insight:

Cheez-It's scavenger hunt promotes the brand on social media — with the potential to go viral — and also makes its new product the star of a fun in-person game that encourages fan participation. By promoting the effort on social media, Cheez-It aims to increase its Facebook fans and Twitter followers, a move that could strengthen future marketing opportunities. The real-world game element helps the snack brand stand out in the social media clutter and snag attention as Cheez-it fans try to find the bunker, which might be in "a cheese cave, an old cellar or a retired subway tunnel," per the brand's announcement.

Scavenger hunts have become a creative way for brands to deliver entertaining experiences to people and engage them on a deeper level than traditional marketing tactics. Busch Beer recently ran a campaign with the National Forest Foundation in which they sent people on a scavenger hunt in wooded areas to find trees marked with special medallions. This effort was also pushed heavily on social media, where participants could find clues to the trees' whereabouts.

Similarly, Under Armour ran a digital scavenger hunt around San Francisco that relied on drones to promote a new Steph Curry shoe. These efforts aim to attract publicity and fan conversations on social media, driving online chatter that extends the campaign's reach beyond the in-person activities. Other notable brands including Hyundai, Disney and Unilever have also created similar games.

By offering up a year's supply of the product alongside prizes such as a TV or streaming subscription, the Kellogg's brand could be intentionally associating its product as a TV-viewing snack food. This positioning could put the product in a consumer's mind when they reach for snacks while viewing video content. Plus, the premise of the scavenger hunt — that the Snap'd crackers could cause a cheese shortage — could reinforce the brand's "real cheese" value proposition as it seeks to stand out in the crowded snack category.