When we start working with a brand, we ask them to tell us everything they know about their business and their consumer base. Then we do a deep dive into market research to understand who they’re selling to, who’s buying, who constitutes their loyal following, and so on. From there, we analyze what we’ve learned, and determine how those insights could lead to other products — that is, how we can fill the white spaces in their market.
A prime example of our discovery process is the work we did for TABASCO. When we dug into the typical consumer for TABASCO, we found out that one of the profile markers for their customers is that they are risk takers. Then we dug into other characteristics of risk takers, and one trend that we identified about risk takers was that they like to gamble. At the time, TABASCO had created an in-house character, a Louisiana chef, “Chez Chef.” We found a partner in a slot machine company and used the Chef to become part of the interactive experience — you pulled the levers, the Chef spoke to you, and TABASCO iconography spun on the displays.
Today, advertising is prohibited in casinos, but when we began working with TABASCO, the slot machine presented an opportunity to get their brand in front of consumers in a non-traditional advertising space. That opportunity lasted about ten years. During that time, we placed TABASCO slot machines all over the world and enhanced the brand’s awareness on a global scale.
