Pop-Tarts tapped into the zillow surfing craze with its edible listing, here's why
Pop-Tarts and Formerly Known As have won the Creativity category at The Drum Awards for Digital Advertising. Here is the award-winning case study.
Pop-Tarts, an iconic brand within the Kellogg company, sought to reintroduce its fan-loved holiday flavor, Gingerbread Pop-Tarts, to a cross-generational audience. The goal was to create mass awareness, drive social engagement, and connect the historic audience engagement with this flavor to the long-held holiday tradition of creating gingerbread houses.
Strategy: The strategic approach aimed to leverage a unique cultural moment arising from the pandemic known as "Zillow surfing." Research and social listening revealed that people, particularly Gen Z, were using the Zillow app for entertainment, with users spending significant time scrolling through virtual home tours. Recognizing the overlap between Zillow enthusiasts and the target Gen Z audience, Pop-Tarts decided to tap into this trend by creating a Pop-Tarts Gingerbread House listed on Zillow. The campaign aimed to offer escapism and nostalgia while encouraging audience participation through a contest.
Implementation: Pop-Tarts crafted a three-foot-tall custom gingerbread mansion entirely out of Pop-Tarts and partnered with Zillow to list it like a real property. The custom listing page included property specs, photos, and an HGTV-inspired video tour. Native ad units on TikTok promoted the Pop-Tarts home, and collaborations with TikTok creators further amplified the campaign. The contest encouraged fans to build their own Pop-Tarts Gingerbread House for a chance to win $15k toward their rent or mortgage.
Results: The campaign achieved remarkable success:
@zillowgonewild TikTok videos received 2MM+ views with 10% watching the entire video.
Influencer TikTok videos garnered a total of 6.7MM+ views.
Pop-Tarts TikTok channel videos promoting the contest had 1.8MM+ views.
Over 238MM media impressions were generated, surpassing the goal by 15%.
The campaign received coverage from multiple news outlets, reaching a broad audience.
The contest garnered over 280 entries, showcasing high engagement and participation.
Overall, the campaign successfully leveraged a cultural trend, combined it with a unique and interactive concept, and achieved widespread awareness and engagement for Gingerbread Pop-Tarts during the holiday season.