We were tasked with developing a big, fame-driving program that would encourage consumers to use ranch more often and reawaken everyone’s love of and passion for Hidden Valley Ranch. Hidden Valley Ranch had long been known as a dressing for salads, but America’s love of the brand evolved and Hidden Valley Ranch needed to catch up to how consumers are actually using ranch today. Our objective was to frame Hidden Valley Ranch as a condiment and show consumers the new and different occasions they could dip food into ranch, ultimately increasing usage of the product as a condiment. We also were tasked with raising awareness of their dip packet product, which is used by mixing the Hidden Valley Ranch mix with sour cream to create a dip that can be used for vegetables and salty snacks.

Hidden Valley Ranch has always been about dressing. America has long been using it to dress salads, but over time people’s love for ranch has evolved into something much bigger. Hidden Valley Ranch noticed that not only did they have fans, they had superfans who were using ranch dressing to dress not only salads, but everything they were eating. Dipping into ranch became a way of adding flavor and variety to otherwise simple, traditional foods. Not only were they dipping everything into ranch, they were also chugging it from the bottle, buying it by the keg, and getting the bottle tattoo’d on their bodies. By leaning into this cultural insight of extreme fandom, we would be able to amplify current users love of ranch and inspire others to join in on the fun and try ranch too.

The Hidden Valley Ranch target are medium and heavy Hidden Valley Ranch users. Their kitchen is typically stocked with a bottle of HVR Original ranch that they use about once a week. The Hidden Valley ranch fans are a loud army of people willing to go above and beyond to express their devotion to ranch. They like to relax in their sweatpants and watch TV and they are big fans of the ABC TV show A Million Little Things. Through a partnership with ABC, and a seamless creative integration into the TV show, we were able to hit our target while they were at home and amplify their current love of Hidden Valley Ranch, ultimately reinforcing loyalty. At the same time, this amplified passion for the brand would also inspire others to join in on the fun, and, therefore, drive brand awareness.

A partnership with ABC gave us the opportunity to help write the brand into the storyline of an episode of the hit TV show A Milllion Little Things. In the scene, character Rome Howard (Romany Malco), is shown pitching the Hidden Valley Ranch “Airport” ad concept to the clients in a conference room. The ad was met with a round of applause. Then one of the execs enthusiastically stands up to tell Rome that this is great, a real gamechanger, and says, “Are you ready for that?” Rome’s reply, “I’ve been waiting for this my entire life.” The first commercial break after the scene is then the real Hidden Valley Ranch “Airport” commercial. The episode aired on January 24, 2019.

- 770MM impressions across TV, social, and digital platforms

- 204MM video plays

- Exposed Product Awareness exceeded the goal of 70%, finalizing with a total exposed rate of 78.51%

- 2.05% lift in Product Awareness

- 4.42% lift in Brand Awareness

- 3.17% lift in Brand Consideration

- 143k clicks to site