RITZ CRACKERS
Ritz Crackers compared using low-fidelity video ad creative that was specifically tailored for the Reels placement to its usual ad creative, and saw a 3.7-point lift in campaign awareness with the creative designed for Reels.
First introduced by Nabisco in 1934, Ritz Crackers is a brand of lightly salted snack crackers with a buttery flavor and a finely scalloped edge. Ritz Crackers can be enjoyed with sweet or savory toppings. Today, Ritz is owned by Mondelez International.
lift in unaided ad recall using ad creative tailored for Reels, compared to usual creative
lift in campaign awareness using ad creative tailored for Reels, compared to usual creative
more 3-second view plays using ad creative tailored for Reels, compared to usual creative
Ritz Crackers wanted to accelerate Reels-first brand storytelling and strengthen the performance of its video ads in the Reels placement across Instagram and Facebook.
THE SOLUTION
Testing tailored Reels ad creative
The team at Ritz Crackers had seen success running ads in the vertical, full-screen Reels placement in prior campaigns, but wanted to maximize its investment and drive incremental brand outcomes.
Its usual video ad creative had been highly polished and optimized for Reels, including a 9:16 aspect ratio, upfront branding and use of sound. Curious about the possibilities of building in the ‘language’ of Reels, Ritz Crackers and its media and creative agencies partnered with Meta for guidance on how to supercharge its creative approach beyond optimization techniques.
Inspired by Reels trends—as well as its unique consumer behaviors and creative tools—Ritz Crackers’ media agency, VaynerMedia, helped plan and implement the media campaign. The company’s creative agencies, The Martin Agency and Dentsu, developed tailored Reels creative that was:
- entertaining and used a mix of visual effects, music or storytelling
- easy to understand and rewarding to watch
- relatable for the intended audience, unpolished and spontaneous
These video ads featured fun, easy-to-replicate recipes, showing how friends and loved ones can enjoy snack time with Ritz. Text overlays encouraged people to submit their own unique recipes in a sweepstakes promotion called #RitzTogether. The team showed the ads to US adults aged 18–44 on Instagram and Facebook.
To understand how well this new creative performed, Ritz ran a Meta brand lift study that compared the usual ad creative in one cell with a campaign with the usual creative plus tailored Reels creative in the second cell. All other campaign elements were identical.
Ritz Crackers determined the results of its May 1–June 13, 2023 campaign using a two-cell Meta brand lift study. The study revealed that tailored Reels ads outperformed the usual creative, including:
- 2.8-point lift in unaided ad recall
- 3.7-point lift in campaign awareness
- 3.3X more 3-second view plays