Concept
General Mills brand Old El Paso worked with agency UM London to launch a Cinco de Mayo-themed food stall at London's Victoria Station on 5 May.
The Mexican national celebration was the perfect time for the brand to promote its range of food products and ingredients, which include burrito, taco and enchilada kits.
"This campaign was all about showcasing the breadth of our products and how easy they are to cook with, using our new meal-time recipes for inspiration," explains Rachael Clutton, brand manager at Old El Paso.
"The Cinco de Mayo event in Victoria allowed us to take our recipes to the streets for people to try and enjoy, while showcasing the Old El Paso range."
Lauren Hertzenberg, planning manager at UM London, adds that the activation also sought to promote the launch of the brand's new video series.
"Our content division, UM Studios, produced a series of 31 recipe videos that use Old El Paso ingredients. It featured celebrity chef Andy Bates and was hosted on the Food Network," she says.
The experience
Bates led cooking demonstrations throughout the day, using Old El Paso products and recipes that feature in the new series.
Hertzenberg explains that passers-by were able to interact with Bates and his team, as well as sample their creations.
"They could chat to the chefs, pick up one of our samples and take home recipe cards to make the dishes for themselves," she says.
"We enticed commuters coming into London in the morning with samples of our smoked-bacon breakfast tortillas. Then, in the afternoon, when people were on their way home, we gave them a choice of either vegetarian sweet potato and chili enchiladas or spatchcock roast chicken with a Mexican-style rub."
Success
Hertzenberg says the event was visible to more than 300,000 commuters, and the #CreateItYourWay hashtag reached 26,000 unique users on Twitter. More than 2,350 food samples were handed out to passers-by, and brand ambassadors distributed around 6,200 Old El Paso recipe cards.
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