In your own words, what was the big idea behind the campaign and why do you think it resonated so strongly?

Our mission was to cement Pringles as the number one snacking brand for gamers by tapping into nostalgia and a shared love of gaming culture. As Pringles’ European Partnerships & Promotions agency, our idea was to connect authentically with the gaming community by anchoring the campaign in one of the most iconic gaming characters of all time: Super Mario.

At the heart of the activation was a Mario-inspired Mystery Flavour, drawing directly on the legendary in-game mystery box. By turning a familiar gaming mechanic into a real-world snacking experience, the sense of the unknown sparked curiosity, play and engagement. This crossover between gameplay and product felt instantly recognisable and authentic, helping the campaign resonate so strongly with the gaming community.

The instantly recognised line-up of Super Mario characters also enabled us to drive collectability, with collectible cans each featuring a different, much-loved character. This drove stopping power at point of purchase but also encouraged talkability.

Where did the original insight or spark come from?

We always start with the data and insights; having received the broad gaming strategy from Pringle’s creative agency, which identified gaming as having become too serious for many gamers, we looked at the gaming passion point, the gaming genres and most relevant IP that index highly with the Pringles audience. Separately, we also considered the nostalgia trend and how this was turning up in gaming and applied this to our gaming partner selection criteria. We knew the partner needed to have instantly recognisable, mass appeal, and Super Mario was the perfect choice.

How did you approach success measurement, and what outcomes meant the most to you (commercial or otherwise)?

Key metrics for centralised campaigns such as this include the number of markets that buy into the campaign and the level of customer buy-in and instore exposure it secures. The fact that the core shopper promotion was strong enough for Pringles to invest in full-funnel marketing activity also underlines the success of the core campaign idea – and seeing this come to life was particularly rewarding for us as a team.

The result was a multi-channel campaign that built Pringles’ gaming platform in a culturally relevant way and achieved commercial success with a significant YoY sales uplift, supporting long-term brand building and short-term commercial gain, with our client expressing how this has become the benchmark for how they measure future campaigns.

Brand Culture were also thrilled that Pringles decided to take up our idea of the Mario Mystery Flavour aspect of the campaign, which genuinely drove consumer buzz and fandom, and for us was the icing on the cake.

Was there a standout moment during the activation when you thought, “this is really working”?

There were two moments: firstly, when working with the creative agency Grey on the OOH campaign and seeing it genuinely all come together – it was such a beautifully simple, playful way to align DBAs! And secondly, when we were told that the Mystery Flavour was going to be activated.

Who were the key collaborators/partners, and how did that collaboration shape the final result?

From Pringles’ agency side, we worked closely with Grey, their creative agency, and of course we also worked extremely closely with Nintendo – without whom we couldn’t have delivered the campaign.

What advice would you share with this year’s entrants preparing their submissions?

Make sure you provide as much clear detail around the brief, your strategy and approach and provide results. Also keep your entries tight and error-free. Visuals or sizzles of your campaign also help bring it to life.