As the worth of Tremendous Bowl adverts rises — with 30-second spots reportedly going for greater than $8 million earlier this 12 months — manufacturers proceed to search out new methods to faucet into consideration across the massive sport with out paying to be in it, together with by specializing in the post-game Monday.
Quick-food chain Carl’s Jr. this 12 months iterated on a Free Burger Day idea from 2024 by providing free Hangover Burgers on a day it rechristened Nationwide Hangover Day. Key to Carl’s Jr.’s Tremendous Bowl-adjacent marketing campaign was social media star Alix Earle, who starred in a spot that nodded to the racy adverts the chain was recognized for within the 2000s and 2010s.
The partnership was one of many top-performing campaigns that ran within the days main as much as the Tremendous Bowl, with an Instagram put up that notched a 47% engagement fee and helped the model safe a 91% improve in followers, per Metricool social knowledge shared with Advertising and marketing Dive.
“We did not have a spot within the Tremendous Bowl, however we had a lot buzz on social media, between the free giveaway and the marketing campaign itself,” stated Kara Gasbarro, vp of inventive technique at Carl’s Jr. guardian CKE Eating places. “It was a pleasant match for us to reintroduce Carl’s Jr. to a youthful viewers.”
Carl’s Jr. turned a Los Angeles location right into a one-night-only after-hours celebration.
Courtesy of Carl’s Jr.
Carl’s Jr. has labored to construct on the success of the Nationwide Hangover Day marketing campaign by iterating on its partnership with Earle, an influencer with 7.5 million TikTok followers who has additionally linked with manufacturers like Poppi, Pantene and Hawaiian Tropic for a sequence of efforts. Past her attain and elevated profile, Earle offered a possibility for the chain to pair with an envoy as daring and audacious as its menu choices.
“We met Alix the place she was, so far as being genuine,” Gasbarro stated. “That was actually necessary to us with audiences, particularly a really social-forward, younger viewers … you need the content material to really feel enjoyable and buzz-worthy, however you need it to really feel actual… what she would say, and the way she would say it.”
Tacky nostalgia
The chain in Could hosted Membership Carl’s, turning a Los Angeles location right into a one-night-only after-hours celebration (a possibility for the model to seize content material) that includes Earle, a DJ and an opportunity to craft a customized Construct Your Personal Bag worth providing. Earlier this month, Carl’s Jr. teamed with Earle once more as a part of a “Kay So?” marketing campaign that promotes a Queso Crunch Burger that options cheese sauce and tortilla strips.
Within the spot, Earle enjoys an evening at a membership the place every part she sees — from shot glasses, to going-out tops, to lip gloss — is manufactured from queso. Ultimately, Earle heads to a drive-thru to fulfill her craving, and as she takes a chunk of the burger, Paris Hilton pulls up in a Bentley and updates her signature catchphrase to match the marketing campaign’s play on phrases: “Kay, in order that’s sizzling.”
Including Hilton to the combo allowed Carl’s Jr. to faucet into nostalgia, a ubiquitous a part of cultural advertising for the previous few years. Hilton starred in an notorious 2005 advert that was typical of the chain’s promoting, which will be greatest summarized as blondes in bikinis consuming burgers. Earle’s efforts for the model have shared that tone, which Carl’s Jr. had not got down to mimic.
“From a technique perspective, it actually was looking for that genuine match versus going again and recreate what we did earlier than,” Gasbarro stated. “I do not suppose it was intentional… that is what an viewers right this moment would react to.”
Whereas Earle and Hilton have featured in conventional TV adverts for the model, Carl’s Jr. has labored to increase the campaigns in different paid and owned channels, in addition to these of their model ambassadors. Like different fast-food and QSR chains, loyalty can also be a key a part of its multichannel technique; clients utilizing the chain’s app unlock extra choices for the Construct Your Personal Bag providing.
“In terms of one thing like a loyalty platform, how can we make it distinctive and completely different and reward that habits?” Gasbarro stated. “How can we develop these platforms to make them extra fascinating and distinctive for the shoppers?”
