Challenge: So much competition. So much on people鈥檚 minds.
CKE is the parent company of both Carl鈥檚 Jr. and Hardee鈥檚, each of which has a unique geography and customer base, but use national media to speak about both brands at the same time.
The fast-food burger space is crowded with options in the best of times. But our audience鈥檚 minds were overwhelmed even more than usual with concerns about the pandemic, economy, social justice, politics, and continued change and uncertainty.
The creative campaign was built around the line, 鈥淔eed Your Happy鈥 鈥斺 but things didn鈥檛 exactly feel happy.
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Insight: People craved comfort and escapism.
Strategically, we were focused on frequent QSR visitors 鈥 the core customers that drive a disproportionate amount of visits and revenue.
We sought a smarter partnership to help CKE stand out, not just in scale, but also in a way that leans into our customers鈥 interests, maximizing our impact. [adult swim] felt like a perfect partner: beloved by our customers for its irreverent place within pop culture and comprised of young and hungry customers. Its role in fans鈥 lives is to provide a fun, indulgent escape 鈥 a perfect fit with the role CKE鈥檚 food plays for them, too. Together we aimed to creatively promote in-store sales, while also increasing brand recognition and affinity.
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Solution: 鈥淗appy-thons鈥 and an adult-meal deal.
We used CKE鈥檚 brand character, Happy Star, to promote 鈥淗appy-thons鈥 of episode blocks of Adult Swim programming, including 鈥淪ealab,鈥 鈥淪pace Ghost,鈥 鈥淢etalocalypse,鈥 鈥淩obot Chicken,鈥 鈥淗arvey Birdman: Attorney at Law,鈥 and 鈥淎qua Teen Hunger Force,鈥 paired with co-branded custom spots, tune-in messaging, billboards, and animated vignettes. The goal was to lift CKE鈥檚 brand equity by tapping into and associating with the [adult swim] audience and IP.
Then we went a step further, to truly link our brands in a fun, tangible way. 91视频 proposed creating an 鈥淸adult swim] meal鈥 that would come with collectible [adult swim] character figurines, plus CKE鈥檚 own Happy Star. This synergy tapped into our customers鈥 nostalgia for the fun kids鈥 meals of their youth, while making it relevant for them today. Since the campaign took place during the height of the pandemic, the comforting, nostalgic connection felt even more compelling.
Additionally, a wave of social content to tease, support, and sustain awareness for both the [adult swim] meal and the new product launch was rolled out, with Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram posts across [adult swim] and CKE channels.
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Results: We definitely fed some happy.
The partnership was a big success and exceeded expectations. Among the core audience exposed to this promotion:
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