Philly Pretzel Factory is the crowned-king of Philly soft pretzels, hands down – and we’re privileged to call them our client and partner. And if you didn’t know, Philadelphians are pretty particular about their Philly soft pretzels. Just hang out in Philly Pretzel’s flagship store in Mayfair for a few minutes and listen to some of the patrons placing their order. You can immediately tell a Philly pretzel connoisseur (a local) from just a casual customer in a heartbeat.
“Can I get the one in the middle? No, no. Not that one, the one in front of it.”
“Two, extra salty please.”
“How long until the next hot batch comes out? I’ll wait.”
“Can I get a couple of pretzels please, well done?”
“Two pretzels, no salt. Doc says I need to lower my sodium intake.”
However they order, people love Philly Pretzel Factory pretzels, in and around Philly – and outside the market in one of their 160+ franchise locations up and down the East Coast.
But how do you take a product that’s near perfect and so loved all by itself already and elevate the game? Enter the flavored pretzel dips you never knew you needed!
Mustard will forever be the go-to condiment that enhances the flavor of a perfectly baked Philly soft pretzel. And Philly Pretzel factory offers four – Yellow, Spicy Brown, Super Hot and Honey Mustard. And to be fair, Philly Pretzel Factory has had dips for their salty snacks, beyond their current mustard offerings, available for some time now. From the super popular buttercream and cinnamon flavors to their decadent brownie batter, dips have definitely been a part of the Philly Pretzel Factory customer experience. But in our opinion, we didn’t feel they got the attention they deserved. So, to shine a light on these flavorful pairings, our team got to work on an advertising campaign concept that would bring dips to life!
To start, we focused on anchoring the campaign with a song that many people would recognize but was also catchy even if they didn’t. Once we identified our options, the agency negotiated and secured the licensing rights for the 90’s classic “Da Dip” (charted at #15 on the Billboard Top 100) with the artist Freak Nasty himself (thanks Freak!). Then our team went to work on developing a promotional campaign to put the spotlight on Philly Pretzel Factory’s arsenal of pretzel dips offered at their franchise locations. With the help of some NBA dancers from the Philadelphia 76ers dance squad and our rockstar production team, “How Do You Dip?“ was brought to life.
In addition to all the pre-planning and concept development, the final 2-day shoot included one full-day of pre-production and one full-day of filming. Filmed at the renowned Bud’s Studio, famous for hosting shoots that include Billie Eilish, Hot One’s, Nike, Footlocker, as well as other local food brands like Wawa and Herr’s, the flexibility of the space allowed for a highly optimized final product. For this shoot, our team used camera motion control with the Bolt JR+ robot arm to film everything on-set. The production was brought to life by our choreographer from the 76ers dance squad and a few of her teammates, our food stylist, still photographer, video production crew and creative team.
To bring the “How Do You Dip?” campaign to the people, the agency developed an East Coast-targeted, multi-platform media plan that showcases the new creative to viewers across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Google, YouTube, OTT (including Peacock, Hulu, MLB, Xfinity Stream, Direct TV Stream, MTV, VH1, MSNBC, BET, CNN, Paramount, Roku, ABC, NBC, CBS and others) and text message marketing. In addition, the in-house Philly Pretzel Factory team deployed in-store POP assets to keep franchise locations fresh and customers aware about the ongoing promotion.
An upcoming TikTok contest will launch in August with a call for users to submit their “How Do You Dip?” dance for a chance to win great prizes and be featured on the Philly Pretzel Factory social accounts. Individuals, dance squads, cheerleading teams and friend groups are all encouraged to participate.
In addition, a list of new flavor suggestions was developed by the agency alongside the Philly Pretzel Factory team for testing in market. Over the next year, a series of new dip flavors will be introduced at all franchise locations to complement their classic dip lineup. First out of the gate was Strawberries and Cream, launched in July of 2023. Other flavors planned for future rollout include South Philly Cannoli Dip, Cookies and Cream, Coffee, and Sweet Bavarian Mustard!
Various assets were developed as part of the final project deliverables including a :30 and :15 second HD video, various social video assets for use in stories and reels, a new landing page to showcase the dip flavors, and a library of high resolution still photography for use throughout the year for the initial length of the campaign. To watch the final full-length video commercial, visit our YouTube page: https://youtu.be/hYvkZAU-V-E
