Although the soy category is often associated with functional claims such as flavor enhancement or salt balance, Master aims to establish an emotional connection with consumers. However, as a brand with limited media resources, Master needs to find a unique angle and efficient media touchpoints to capture consumers' attention.

Additionally, the evolution of AI has heightened consumers' desire for genuine emotions, presenting a unique opportunity for brands to cultivate emotional bonds.

Therefore, we leveraged a competition against AI-generated recipes to make a simple point: nothing can replace the loving and caring touch in every home-cooked dish.

By combining emotional resonance with technological innovation, Master not only joins the recent AI debate but also showcases the brand's modernity and innovation.

Meanwhile, the entire campaign should focus solely on social media to encourage maximum consumer participation. This is why TikTok was chosen as the primary platform.

In this era of rapidly developing AI technology, which claims to offer superior solutions to all facets of life, Master firmly believes that no technology can replace the personal touch brought to dishes cooked with love and care.

So we decided to put this into our campaign idea – AI Cooking V.S. the Taste of Home.

By creating a competition between AI-generated recipes against homemade recipes, we showcased our brand's brief: the definition of deliciousness is personal and stems from the love and care one puts into cooking for their family, and Master is here to help you preserve that unique deliciousness for your loved ones.

Furthermore, hosting the debate online can effectively help the brand to stimulate discussion, capturing consumers' attention, and standing out in the competitive soy sauce market.

TARGET AUDIENCE:

Moms aged 25-45 juggling between working, cooking and parenting. Despite their hectic lives, they strive to cook at least 3x a week and take pride in preparing signature dishes for their families as a labor of love.

AI RECIPE SELECTION:

We use social listening to gather top homemade recipes in China and then ask ChatGPT to generate the ideal standardized recipe for each dish.

APPROACH:

Riding on the debate of AI replacing human work, we conducted a competition between AI-generated recipes and real homemade recipes. We created an interactive TikTok film with two different endings, asking viewers to vote for their preferred ending.

Additionally, foodie influencers and consumers participated in a cooking competition on TikTok, generating both PGC and UGC to stimulate discussion.

The campaign unfolds in two key phases.

Awareness: Oct 15 – Nov 11

- First time ever TikTok allows any brand to display an A/B ending interactive film and letting consumers to choose the ending they want to watch based on their vote (AI recipe win or human recipe win).

Engagement: Oct 20 – Nov 15

- Over 200+ foodie influencers and consumers were invited to challenge AI on TikTok with their own recipes and blind tests to echo the merits of home cooking on TikTok.

- 3 top-tier influencers released their teasers announcing that they would participate in an actual cooking competition against AI during Double 11 roadshow, generating interest and discussion beforehand.

- An offline competition between AI cooking robot vs. influencers was held with live-streaming on TikTok, pushing up the buzz to peak.

- Winner's recipes were celebrated through outdoor stunt ads as follow-up.

Till November 5, the interactive film garnered 19.2 million views and 230K engagements, The creative format attracted consumers watching at least twice to uncover the endings, ensuring a lasting impression.

The TikTok challenge achieved 33.3 million views, surpassing industry benchmarks by over threefold. The campaign got almost 1,900 user-generated posts and 200+ paid content, lead to a remarkable 76% spike in engagement, reached a total of 388K (1.8 times the industry norm).

The livestreaming event achieved 9.8+ million views with a 14% CTR (compared to the industry benchmark of 1-2%).

Brand attributes saw a 200 BPS increase in "Xian" and a 120 BPS increase in "cooking confidence."

TikTok's 5A populations experienced significant growth: Awareness increased 144%, Appeal by 889%, Ask by 120%, Act by 20%, and Advocate by 27%.

Market share within Master stronghold provinces grew to 25.8% in Oct 2023 from 24.7% Oct 2022.