Pringles saw an opportunity in gaming to grow sales amongst frequently snacking gamers. They needed to drive fame for their brand in the gaming world in an authentic and credible way. But how do you capture the attention of notoriously fickle gamers who have countless brands competing for their time already?

To win over the toughest of crowds, to connect with gamers and prove that Pringles is the perfect snack for them, we created a real video game character, a mindless, deadly zombie - and transformed him into a global gaming influencer loved by millions. To do this we developed a character in an actual video game, had him escape into the real world, got gamers to love him, and then put him back into the game to become a permanent part of gaming culture.

Why we game has significantly changed over the years since gaming has existed, yet many brands have failed to take notice. So, we saw an opportunity to carve out a unique space for the Pringles brand in gaming. When we spoke to today’s gamers in focus groups, we realised gaming has become a space where people now come to connect with each other as well as play. From spectating on Twitch, to hanging out in Fortnite, gaming has become the new backyard. So as the social magnet Pringles were well known for, gaming was the perfect opportunity for Pringles to prove its social credentials to gamers all over Europe.

During a Twitch livestream, a streamer opened Pringles, causing a zombie to break out of the game as she played, crawling through her screen to get the snack. Next, our zombie took the gaming world by storm tweeting, streaming, snacking, starring in ads: becoming an influencer. Gamers loved him, creating fan art, even wanting to date him. After two weeks, we put the zombie back into the game, no longer a baddie, but a friendly, Pringle-eating character, helping players in the game forever.

The work ran from January to March 2021 across 18 markets through Online Video Display & Social Platforms. It ran across gaming platforms (Twitch / Xbox), Video online (YouTube / Gaming Networks) and Social Media (Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / TikTok) using a variety of formats and assets in rotation. To create the zombie, we partnered with Xbox game developers for the most authentic experience possible.

Whilst it’s too early to report brand tracker results, it’s safe to say we turned Frank into a gaming icon, bringing Pringles the gaming fame it was after in the process.

Our campaign was seen worldwide, with over 686 million projected media impressions, over 100 pieces of coverage, 9.9 million minutes watched on Twitch and making it into the top 10 most watched streams globally.

Importantly, it was also loved and generated conversation, with #Frank and #Pringles both trending on Twitter in multiple countries, peaking at #3, and viewers showing total fandom for the campaign: ‘no-one who was there will ever forget this’. The campaign even ignited its own array of fan art dedicated to Frank.

It resulted in sales increases too, generating a +24.7% sales increase for Pringles. It even had a knock-on effect on sales of the game Frank was born from, increasing their games sales by +108%.