Doritos
Viralocity

Are you good at the internet?
Doritos wants to know.

CLIENT: Frito-Lay Canada
AGENCY: Proximity/BBDO
YEAR: 2010
ROLE: Concept, Copywriter, Associate Creative Director

Back in early 2010, contests based on the submission of User Generated Content were not necessarily new. Nor was the concept of the branded "viral" video. But as the online creator class began to find its legs and understand the power of the platforms now at their disposal, Doritos Canada wanted to take advantage.

The ask was simple. Name the flavour, make a video about and featuring it and make that video go viral. From there our custom algorithm would take over, tracking the progress and increasing digital footprint of each submission and awarding points accordingly. The bigger your footprint, the higher your score, and the better your chance of winning up to $250,000.

A :45 second spot and YouTube homepage buy on Superbowl Sunday, got the word out. Banner ads aimed at content creators and two subsequent TV spots reinforced the news.

Consumers were directed to DoritosViralocity.ca to upload their video and share it with the world using an array of sharing, posting and spreading mechanisms built into each video profile page. Points were awarded for just about everything. YouTube views, external embeds, unique referrers, shares, retweets, bookmarks, ratings, and more.

Using in-house analytics and external data sets retrieved through public APIs, the algorithm systematically applied the appropriate weighting and updated scores nightly – with breakdowns and details of each video’s daily stats visible to all.

Doritos // Viralocity // Impact

At its core, success was driven by offering the kind of platform and incentive only Doritos could provide while allowing participants to use their ever-growing digital prowess to do what they do best – create unique online content and share it. For Doritos, the brand promise to “unleash potential” for its core consumers was an overwhelming triumph.

The media took special notice as well, with coverage appearing on Mashable, Fast Company and College Humor among others. The campaign also topped the AdAge Viral Video Chart three weeks in a row, and was the #1 most viewed YouTube Sponsor Channel worldwide for March 2010.

And then there are the raw numbers: