Pringles' awareness is high, but consideration is low. Pringles is the crisp people know, but few think of in the grocery aisle. We needed people to reconsider Pringles. Through social listening, we discovered a behavior amongst Pringles loyalists: Flavor stacking. Due to its unique shape, stacking Pringles (i.e. grabbing more than one from a single can and eating them) is already a natural behavior. However, some people had started mixing different Pringles flavors into a single stack – something the majority of America hadn’t thought of yet. With 18 different flavors to stack, we realized stacking Pringles can create an exponential array of new flavor combinations. Our objectives were to communicate the endless flavor possibilities people can create when stacking Pringles, thus reigniting interest in the brand and encouraging purchase amongst people who enjoy exploring new flavors but have not recently considered Pringles.

With 18 existing Pringles flavors, and countless permutations on how to stack them, there are too many stacking combinations for any human brain to compute. So, we turned to the thing Americans now use to answer their questions every day: smart devices. Unfortunately, the only entity that can calculate the number of stacks, will never taste any. And so, in 2019, America's smart devices became sad devices. They became sad in homes across the country, with a custom-built Alexa and Google Home skill that turns all your regular device answers into sad answers. To back this up, they were then sad in an online film. And one was sad on Twitter during Super Bowl, posting depressed videos commenting on the night’s events. People engaged first-hand with the sad device at home through their devices, learning more about Pringles stacking and being encouraged to try it themselves, all while being entertained.

According to Nielsen, smart devices reached critical mass in late 2018, with 41% penetration in American homes and discussions on the topic across media. To launch the endless flavor combinations of Pringles stacking, we leaned into this trend, with a timely message: America's all-knowing smart devices are now sad devices. Because while they're the only entity that can calculate the number of flavor stacks, they'll never taste any. This initiated a call-to-action for humans to try stacking. Our target audience is people who frequently eat salty snacks. Through research, we discovered they're on the lookout for new snacking experiences. But analysis showed that less than 1 in 5 of them had heard of stacking. Knowing they enjoy new flavors, our approach was to increase awareness in the endless flavors of stacking. We did this through a PR campaign built on the custom-built device skill, Twitter activation and TV spot.

The sad device first made an appearance in homes across the country, with a custom-built skill for Alexa and Google, which turns regular smart device answers into sad answers. Activate the skill on your device, and the questions you would normally ask it will be answered with our sad device’s depressed spin. Each of the top questions people usually ask voice assistants had between 2 and 6 programmed responses. Many of these answers reminded people of stacking, while others were simply fun, funny or useful. People could then order Pringles to stack with, from their device. Once the device skill was available, we extended the campaign onto film and social media. An online film featuring the sad device from our skill launched on social. And in a Twitter activation, the same sad device took over Pringles' Twitter feed during the Super Bowl, posting depressed commentary videos on all the night’s events. The skill will continue to run for the remainder of 2019, while the film will continue to air online. At all touchpoints, people will be informed of the endless combinations they can make when stacking Pringles and be encouraged to try stacking for themselves. Because although these devices can never enjoy stacks, humans can.

Because of our campaign, Pringles is seeing the best sales results in over 7 years and the fastest sales growth in over 7 years. This is thanks to many factors. Firstly, the campaign garnered 830 Million earned impressions, with earned PR 700% higher than forecast, including mentions across influential titles like The New Yorker, Time Magazine and The Washington Post. The Twitter activation created more than 9 million organic social impressions, while the device skill currently has a review approval rating of 87%. The campaign also organically triggered Amazon to change some of its own Alexa responses. Alexa now directs anyone asking about Pringles to our sad device campaign. In fact, this was the first time Amazon changed Alexa because of an advertising campaign. And overall, from less than 1 in 5 who had heard of stacking, research now shows that 1 in 3 have tried Pringles flavor stacking.