Lay's asks Canadians for a flavour

In the spring of 2013, Lay's asked Canadians to dream up, name and share the chip brand's next big flavour for the chance to win 1% of its future sales, plus an additional $50,000.

To drum up awareness for its "Do Us a Flavour" program, OMD placed an ad introducing the contest to Canadians during the Super Bowl. The TV placement was also paired with SEO marketing to have the brand own online searches relating to the Super Bowl.

The program relied on consumers promoting and sharing their chip creation using the brand's custom Facebook app. Social ads were personalized for each chip and optimized by region, and the agency worked with the social media site to have the "like" button on the Lay's newsfeed replaced with "I'd Eat This" – a Facebook Canada first.

Comedian Martin Short was chosen to be the program's spokesperson and was featured in TV spots rallying Canadians to participate by creating their own flavour or voting for their favourite. Television ads ran adjacent to interview spots with celebrity hosts (for shows such as Canada AM and ET Canada) talking about their own flavour creations.

Final results surpassed the brand's objectives by 245%, with more than 633,000 flavours created by Canadians.