Dive Brief:
- Doritos and Marvel Studios have teamed up to bring the "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" soundtrack to hungry snackers via a limited-run packaging that includes a working player interface that emulates a cassette tape deck, according to Billboard.
- The bags, which are rechargeable for repeat listening, roll out for purchase on April 28. When the movie opens on May 5, Doritos will also sponsor "Rock Out Loud" pop-up recording booths in L.A. and New York to give fans a chance to sing songs from the soundtrack and win prizes. Doritos has also launched a Guardians of the Galaxy instant win game in which consumers enter codes found on its packaging to win prizes.
- "Marvel and Doritos have a very similar set of core fans, so we wanted to maximize availability of this soundtrack by making it as accessible in a unique way," Mindy Hamilton, senior VP of global partnerships at Marvel Entertainment, told Billboard.
Dive Insight:
The first "Guardians of the Galaxy" was something of a surprise hit for Marvel, and not just in theaters: Its soundtrack, drawing on a slew of hits from the 70s and 80s, reached no. 1 on Billboard's top 200 chart in 2014.
Frito-Lay's Doritos clearly sees an opportunity to capitalize on the sequel's cultural cachet and massive audience, but it's doing so in a clever way by reimagining packaging as a connected, interactive interface emulative of the cassette player wielded by the film's protagonist Star-Lord.
A number of marketers are turning to novel, often gimmicky limited-run products to raise brand awareness around big events. For this year's NCAA March Madness basketball tournament, Pizza Hut released Bluetooth-connected "Pie Top" sneakers that could order pizza at the press of a button located on each shoes' tongue.
Unique products are intended to drive enough excitement with consumers that they will share content on social media about the items, earning brands valuable word of mouth.
Doritos isn't the only brand going galactic with exclusive promotions tied to "Guardians." Ford, for example, is creating a limited-run print and digital Marvel comic featuring the Guardians to showcase its new EcoSport model.
