Chomp vs Peel
There's No Right Way to Eat String Cheese
Winning at Shelf Wasn't Enough.
Frigo® Cheese Heads® was the #1 selling string cheese in America. But #1 in sales and #1 in culture are two different things. With competitors crowding shelves on price and retailers like Walmart needing more than volume to justify the space, staying on top required more than a great product.
A Simple Question that Became a National Debate.
Every string cheese fan has an opinion on the right way to eat it. Chomp or peel. Nobody had ever asked out loud. Frigo® Cheese Heads® saw what that question could do: put the brand at the center of a conversation already happening at kitchen tables, in school lunchrooms, and in grocery aisles across America. The brand that asked the question would own the conversation.
From Sweepstakes to National Campaign.
It started with a simple question: how do you eat your string cheese? A sweepstakes invited fans to vote Chomp or Peel, upload a photo with a branded filter, and share it on their social accounts. A full-page FSI hit more than 35 million homes with a $1.00 off coupon.
The brand took the question to where it mattered most. A spokesperson hit the dairy aisle at Jewel and asked real shoppers, mid-shop, to try the product and pick a side. Genuine opinions from genuine string cheese fans, caught on camera in the exact moment they decide what goes in the cart.
Through spring and summer, families and moms across social media joined the conversation through influencer partnerships, posting video and photo content about how their families eat string cheese. The content ran on their channels and on Frigo® Cheese Heads®.
For a brand that had never advertised nationally, September 2020 was the moment everything changed. "Right is Right" by Rufus featuring Chaka Khan became the soundtrack to the debate, running across CTV, digital, organic and paid social, and out of home, including Times Square. The McClure Family, a family influencer team with over 2 million Instagram followers and 1 million YouTube subscribers, brought the campaign to their own audience by showing how their family does it.
From Purchase to Preference.
409,841
Sweepstakes Entries
0.46%
FSI Coupon Redemption Rate (vs. 0.30% benchmark)
29,513
Photo Uploads
Registrations exceeded the brand benchmark of 34,000. With no incentive to upload, 29,513 fans shared their preference with a branded photo and 5,571 spread it across their own channels. #ChompOrPeel spread across social media organically, and the brand's retail and industry partners took notice. The campaign earned a Silver Reggie Award for National Consumer Brand Activation Marketing, the kind of recognition that comes when a campaign becomes a conversation.
