Commentary

Cracker Barrel Sends Cheese Robots To Super Bowl Party

 

Cracker Barrel Cheese knows there’s more than one way to build brand awareness at the Super Bowl. The cheese brand, formerly owned by Kraft and now part of Lactalis, is sending a fleet of 50 robots to roam New Orleans’ Bourbon Street Feb. 6-9, handing out free high-protein snacks like Cheese Sticks and Bites so Super Bowl attendees can sample its products,

People simply scan the robot’s QR code and click to choose a flavor. They can follow the bots on Instagram, tracking their rounds of tailgates, parks and popular hangouts throughout the four-day party.

It's an attention-getting approach to sampling, which continues to be a core strategy. “We’re always trying to find fun, creative ways to help cheese lovers understand our cheese,” says Amanda Vaal, the brand’s marketing director. “We want them to think of us whether they’re hosting a party or looking for a snack on the go.”

While delivery robots aren’t exactly news, especially for urban sophisticates, the brand is betting they are still novel enough to command attention. “I live in Chicago,” she tells Marketing Daily, “and I’ve only ever seen one. We’re betting that people will see them and be intrigued enough to come and engage with them.”

And because consumers have connected via QR code, “they’ll be able to see the content we’re posting throughout the Big Game weekend.”

So far, she believes they’ll be the only robots working the Super Bowl crowd.

Cracker Barrel Cheese (no connection to the restaurant chain) is a 70-year-old brand, not exactly a name that pairs well with tech, Vaal concedes. However, the robots are wrapped to resemble the company’s packaging, with a logo likely to be recognized, especially by people in the Southeast and from the East Coast.

The effort’s reach is far less than buying a pricey Super Bowl ad, but she says it will surpass the attendees who sample the cheese.

“We’re assuming that all the cheese we send to New Orleans will get eaten, and we’re tracking how many new followers we get on Instagram.”

Lactalis hopes that Super Bowl fans will snap photos of the robots, too, sharing them on social media, generating earned media mentions.

The company is also using digital ads focusing on game-day recipes to target the millions of people not going to the game in person.

Vaal says that what makes the experiential effort fun is that it takes Cracker Barrel Cheese out of the dairy aisle, the usual competitive arena, and into the buzzy frenzy of brands clamoring for attention.

“I'm always impressed by brands that find unique ways to work around the high cost of TV buys, and we wanted to do that with something punchy to help us stand out. There are so many brands piling on at the Super Bowl,” she says. “We’re hoping fans find this fun and cute and that our robots break through the clutter.”

Next story loading loading..