#UnlockPretzelCrust was part of an overarching campaign created to show consumers that Little Caesars is different from its other "Big Pizza" competitors. In the world of national pizza chains, Little Caesars is often left out of the conversation involving Pizza Hut, Domino's, and Papa John's. Business Impact (including context, evaluation, and market impact) So, Little Caesars decided to go there, too, and hid codes inside a billion-pixel Pretzel Crust photo-hunt on that social platform. Once fans knew the codes could be anywhere, suddenly they were talking about them on various platforms - on their feeds and even deep within the threads on Reddit. There was also a Reddit community watching the activity of Little Caesars. Little Caesars suspected that super fans had notifications turned on for its account, so the company hid codes in organic posts, knowing fans would be looking for clues regardless of the content.
#LITTLE CAESARS PRETZEL CRUST TV#
Then Little Caesars started hiding codes across the internet, in its TV commercials, and even in the middle of the Nevada desert. Tapping into this vocal fandom, Little Caesars launched a gamified, social media-based scavenger hunt called "#UnlockPretzelCrust." Cries for the product's return were loudest on Twitter, so the brand used that channel as its primary hub for cryptic clues. 1 most mentioned product on social media, accounting for 59 percent of all past product mentions in 2020. And by giving fans a chance to #UnlockPretzelCrust, along with unique pretzel-themed prizes - all before the pizza was even back - Little Caesars knew they would talk and tweet about it.Ĭomments on social posts demanding the return of Pretzel Crust were the No. Instead of hiring dozens of influencers with thousands of followers to promote its pizza, Little Caesars flipped the script, getting thousands of Pretzel Crust die-hards with dozens of followers to do it for the brand. Little Caesars sought to make this re-release of Pretzel Crust different. People would express gratitude, sales would be okay, but then it was forgotten about.
Little Caesars had actually brought Pretzel Crust back before.
Of all the Little Caesars products, this one had the biggest cult following. With its creamy cheddar cheese sauce and salted soft pretzel crust, Little Caesars Pretzel Crust Pizza was certainly not for everyone - but those who liked it loved it.
In turn, they would help the brand show the rest of the world how exceptional Pretzel Crust was. With that in mind, the Little Caesars strategy was to leverage these fans and give them what they ultimately wanted: a platform to bring back Pretzel Crust. They wanted to be able to point to Pretzel Crust's return and say, "I did that." But more than that, they wanted recognition of their dedication to the cause. But what exactly did they want? Yes, of course, they wanted Pretzel Crust back. They were engaged in making petitions to bring back Pretzel Crust and trying to be the first comment on any post about the product. The fans of pretzel crust weren't hard to find. So, when announcing its return, Little Caesars decided to target these Pretzel Crust fans and use them to the brand's advantage, turning them into unpaid social media influencers who would spread the word about the product. And one fan even picketed outside the company headquarters. Others started Facebook groups and online petitions. Some went as far as freezing pizzas to enjoy months later. Ever since it left the menu almost two years ago, Pretzel Crust fans had gone to great lengths to bring it back. Little Caesars Pretzel Crust had developed a cult following. The brand wanted to show people that Little Caesars was a company that listened: it was bringing back Pretzel Crust because fans were asking it to - not just as a way to drive sales, though the organization hoped to accomplish that end as well. Little Caesars was bringing back a fan-favorite menu item but with a new approach.