Dive Brief:
- Doritos' Blaze brand is working with the hip-hop artist Busta Rhymes on "Blaze the Beat," a platform for aspiring hip-hop artists that includes a competition to find rising talent in the space, a news release announced.
- As part of the effort, Rhymes, producer Terrace Martin and All Def Music created the Doritos "Blaze Beat" track, which is made with heat- and spice-inspired items, including a cooking torch, hot sauce and the spicy Doritos Blaze vairant. Fans can download the track, freestyle their own lyrics over it and then submit their original raps at DoritosBlazetheBeat.com until Aug. 17.
- Five finalists will be chosen from the entries to perform on the Doritos #BlazeStage at the official Life is Beautiful Music & Art Festival pre-party in Las Vegas, Neveda, on Sept. 20. Busta Rhymes and his team will select one winner as the "Blaze the Beat" champion to win a $50,000 grand prize.
Dive Insight:
With "Blaze the Beat," PepsiCo's Doritos brand is striving to create meaningful opportunities for aspiring hip-hop musicians by giving them a platform to show off their skills and the chance to perform on a large festival stage. The campaign taps into the popularity of music talent search shows like "The Voice," albeit by leveraging digital channels and user-generated content (UGC) instead of broadcast TV.
Doritos is also continuing its work with Busta Rhymes, who was featured in the marketer's successful Super Bowl push this year, where he coached Peter Dinklage in a lip-synced rap battle against Morgan Freeman, who represented PepsiCo's Mountain Dew. Like the "Blaze the Beat" competition, Doritos built a UGC component into the Super Bowl campaign, encouraging consumers to choose a side and share their own raps on social media, including through Snapchat filters or by using the hashtags #SpitFire and #IceCold.
More marketers are setting up campaigns that let consumers engage with their brands through UGC while supporting up-and-coming artists. Mastercard, for example, launched a #StartSomethingPriceless campaign around the Grammy Awards in January that featured aspiring musicians who joined nominee SZA in a music video.
