Cheez-It kicks off Twitter contest for college football playoffs

Dive Brief:

Kellogg's Cheez-It snack brand is running a social media contest to promote the Cheez-It Bowl, a game the company sponsors during the December college football playoffs, according to a press release.
Football fans are encouraged to share photos and videos of themselves watching the game on Twitter using the @CheezIt handle and campaign hashtag #ScoreCheezItEntry for a chance to win a year's supply of the cheesy snack.
Fans attending the game on Dec. 27 can purchase Cheetz-It themed menu items at the stadium such as the Coney Island Cheez-It Dog and the Cheez-It Walking Tacos. The brand also created limited edition boxes of the product featuring the logos of Washington State and the Air Force, the two teams competing in this year's game.

Dive Insight:

Viewing football, and sports in general, often goes hand-in-hand with snacking. Cheez-It is jumping on the opportunity to connect with sports fans during this year's college football playoffs and upping its game by serving hot dogs and tacos — classic game-watching food — that featuring its cheesy cracker for stadium attendees and by running a social media promotion, which could drum up user-generated content and extend the campaign's reach.

Football playoffs season is an especially popular time for consumers to purchase snacks to eat at home and to share at with friends, with Super Bowl Sunday generating the highest retail sales for snacks at grocery stores across the country. Ninety percent of viewers plan to buy snacks for the games, per research from Frito-Lay. Running a snack-oriented campaign during the peak college football season could help the brand engage millennials, 70% of whom prefer snacking to meals.

The football-themed campaign comes on the heels of previous Cheez-It efforts tied to social media and experiential events. In May, the Kellogg brand hid a bunker stocked with its new Snap'd cracker and revealed clues about the bunker's whereabouts on Twitter. Whoever found the hidden stash won a year's supply of the cracker.

Earlier this month, the brand wrapped up the #CheezPickMePatEntry, a call for fans to share photos and videos showing their love for the snack brand on social. Winners received a trip to the Dec. 27 game and will get to watch from the Cheetz-It box with retired NFL player Pat McAfee.