Sonic Drive-In’s CMO wasn’t initially sold on the pickle idea. Ryan Dickerson noticed viral trends relevant to the brand in the past, corresponding to wedging pickles in Dr Pepper, but had not pulled the trigger on a full-fledged campaign based around the briny snack that has been propelled to fresh levels of recognition due to Gen Z’s adventurous eating habits (and proclivity to film such adventures for TikTok).
That’s changing this summer as Sonic goes all-in on pickle mania through a partnership with Grillo’s Pickles, a premium brand known for far-fetched collaborations which have previously included toothpaste. Grillo’s worked with the Inspire Brands-owned chain on the development of recent limited-time promotions (LTP) including a pickled-themed Sonic Smasher burger, pickle-seasoned fries and tater tots and a Picklerita Slush containing “flavor bubbles” recalling boba tea and topped by a pickle chip garnish. The full Big Dill Meal also comes with a complimentary pickle-scented automotive air freshener modeled on Sam-Sam the Pickle Man, Grillo’s mascot.
Beyond the product offerings (and a few merch), Sonic recently debuted a “Pickle the World” spot that pairs Sonic’s CIO character, introduced last 12 months as a part of its “Live Free Eat Sonic” brand platform, with Sam-Sam. The 30-second ad, developed with agency Mother and directed by Jody Hill, used over 2,000 real pickles to create the effect of a Biblical-feeling “pickle rain” — the style of over-the-top concept that eventually won Dickerson over.
“It really was the perfect example of the culmination of a robust partnership with us and our agency partners, but in addition with Grillo’s,” said Dickerson of the campaign. “We took some liberties in the creative and we weren’t sure how far we’d give you the option to go.”
The summer months are typically a few of the busiest for Sonic, meaning the executive has lots riding on diners flocking to a food that’s infamously divisive. Marketing Dive recently spoke with Dickerson, who joined Sonic as CMO 18 months ago but has been at Inspire for over seven years, about how the Grillo’s tie-up and “Pickle the World” got here together, in addition to choosing practical effects over generative artificial intelligence for elements of the shoot.
The following interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
MARKETING DIVE: What strategic considering led to a full-fledged marketing effort behind this versus just an LTP?
RYAN DICKERSON: At Sonic, we launched our smash burger, the Sonic Smasher, almost a 12 months ago. Any time yow will discover a product extension, whether that be seasonal, like queso in those colder months, or if it’s just a pleasant culinary trend-forward thing to go do, it’s exciting. Of course, pickles got trendy: Everything from “girl dinner” all the way all the way down to the overall size of the category growing and lots more of the Gen Z and Gen Alpha leaning in on that flavor profile.
Like another trendy, super-fun food topic, pickles may be polarizing as well. We know there’s a certain percentage in the audience on the market that’s never going to be enthusiastic about anything pickle. You’ve seen other competitors and even a few of our sister brands here at Inspire [jump on the pickle trend]. I’ll pick on Jimmy John’s: They had the Picklewich come out earlier this 12 months and it did phenomenally well. It was one in all the things where we’ve played the pickle space but we were going to do it in our own way.
It was harder said than done, candidly, after we stepped back with our culinary teams. Our extensions haven’t at all times been anchored with a partner like Grillo’s. Hat tip to my marketing team. Some of the folks were like, “Look, Grillo’s is the fastest-growing in the category. Let’s reach out.” Grillo’s was super collaborative, all the way all the way down to the “pickle dust,” as I’ll call it, that we used on our tots and our Groovy Fries.
I didn’t envision the pickle work being an entire live-action shoot. When you have a look at the extensions of our smash burger, like the deluxe that we did earlier this 12 months, those weren’t live-action formats. Those are likely to be very food foundation-forward, just like plenty of what you see on the market. [Those types of ads] are fast, they’re generally very reasonably priced.
I wasn’t sold that this needed to necessarily be something that we put in a live-action format. The Mother team was awesome. They were like, “Let us cook. We’ll get back to you in every week. We think we are able to really blow this thing out.” And after all, they got here back with some concepts, and “Pickle the World,” where we landed, was one in all those. It was just so over-the-top freaking ridiculous.
It’s a testament to the proven fact that we have now an ideal amount of trust in our partners. Sam-Sam, Grillo’s mascot, doesn’t have a voice, he doesn’t have a personality. That hasn’t been defined. And so after we were going through a few of the initial scripting about how we might position Sam-Sam, the Grillo’s team was amazing. They riffed with us on all of this. We’re fidgeting with anyone else’s brand equity here and that’s something that we take very seriously. We wish to be really respectful of merging these two brands together but definitely positioning Sam-Sam in a fun and exciting way.
It’s been an ideal promotion for us smack dab in the middle of a extremely hot, really crazy summer. Generally with these LTPs, you may see an enormous launch and your media plans can have some sustained support, but ultimately tail off. We just proceed to see every single day, in our social chatter and in the press, an increasing number of recognition of how interesting and funky and funky this thing is.
Did this encourage any changes in considering for the way you approach partnerships or collaborations broadly?
Certainly. The art of the possible is something that I at all times get enthusiastic about. Creating the headspace for the teams to get this creative isn’t at all times that easy to do, however it’s vital that we do it. Your head goes to: How do I level up the sort of work? Not that you must make each LTP a live-action spot, however it is an issue that begs to be answered.
The level up is at all times what I’m thinking about and that is a superb example of where, thematically, a pickle burger from Sonic isn’t something latest. A pickled product, immediately on this market, isn’t something latest. But that is something different than what most folks would traditionally think to do and it does require the additional legwork and a partner on the other end that’s going to offer you a few of that autonomy and adaptability.
You mentioned the level of interest from Gen Z and Gen Alpha. Did them being the drivers of pickle trends offer you the confidence that this was a level up versus below-the-line deal?
It did. Anytime we have now an idea like this, strong partnerships aside, I at all times like to get a gut check. To step right into a live-action format and to spend the money and spend the time and undergo the hoops with a partner, it’s plenty of work. [With my team,] I said, “I do know pickles are extremely hot immediately. How much should we put behind this? How many months should we run something like this for?” It’s a little bit little bit of that quant and qual coming together, a little bit little bit of the art and science piece of it. We’ve got to secure media upfront and the way much money I would like to place behind these promotions over the sustained two-month period. Those are all things we have now to take into accounts.
For Sonic, we’re such a seasonally heavy brand, being anchored in the summer months. The opportunity cost is something that I can’t ignore. If I double down on this thing during our two busier months of the summer, it means I’m not doubling down on something else. I are likely to wish to get as much of the input from the teams as I can.
When trends emerge, there does appear to be a difficult balancing act in gauging whether something is a paid media commitment or a quick-hit social thing.
We’re not at all times in the business of attempting to capture lightning in a bottle. Plenty of times, we attempt to spend our focus creating a few of those exciting moments. Pickle boba is something that you just traditionally would never hear anybody say. To speak about that’s fun and quirky and funky.
We see [trends] emerge and it’s like, all right, that’s really interesting. Do we would like to be a component of that conversation and may we? Just since it’s happening doesn’t necessarily mean a brand has the right to inject itself into that space at the moment.
The fun and plenty of the uniqueness for these viral trends, especially in drinks, is people being enthusiastic about what they create for themselves, not necessarily what a brand creates for them. Being in a position to delineate between the two of those things is de facto vital.
I desired to ask about the variety of pickles utilized in the industrial shoot [2,000]. Did that create any logistical challenges? Also, it’s a time where there’s a lot conversation around how AI could make doing things like that easier.
This is going to sound really silly. It’s really hard to make the same noise as a pickle falling from 30 feet and hitting the roof of a 1972 van. There’s some level of authenticity that lends itself to the humor on this. That thud may be very distinct and it’s one in all the explanation why that spot works so well, since you’re like, “God, that’s so silly.” But that’s exactly what I might think it could sound like dropping a pickle on a van from 30 feet up.
We attempt to bring that authenticity through as much as humanly possible, as you’ll imagine, especially in terms of these live-action shoots. It can be a miss to bring this many talented people along with this much talented writing and the inventory we secure after which ultimately AI your way through a few of the funnier parts of it, not less than for my part.
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