According to Vlasic, "every Vlasic pickle is a crunchy one." To prove this to the public and promote their crunchiness, Vlasic’s PR agency developed a series of events called “Crunch-offs”.
Past crunch-offs have been held at events with built in audiences already catering to Vlasic's demographic such as state fairs, children's festivals, sporting events, car races, rodeos, holiday celebrations, grocery stores and much more.
At these events, Vlasic invites ordinary people to compete in the Crunch-offs where each competitor's goal is to prove that they do, in fact, have the loudest crunch. The challengers go down the line, taking a bite into a Vlasic pickle with a microphone held up next to them; the winner with the loudest crunch wins a prize and the right to brag that they have the loudest crunch. The Vlasic Stork is also present at Crunch-offs, helping to judge, taking photos with competitors and fans and most importantly, interacting with the crowds.
At the crunch-offs, prizes, recipe booklets, t-shirts and coupons were distributed to build brand loyalty and get everyone excited about biting into a Vlasic pickle. Vlasic’s big idea was to exhibit that Vlasic is a crunchy, delicious pickle and also to provide consumers with a connection to the brand through the participation of crunch-offs.
The crunch-offs started during Vlasic's "That The Tastiest Crunch I've Ever Heard" campaign. As the brand's campaign changed, Vlasic’s PR agency had to mold the program to fit that; when the new "Taste What a Vlasic Can Do" campaign launched this year, a recipe booklet element was added to the giveaways. These were used to promote the messaging that a Vlasic pickle can zest up any dish, in addition to the promise of a tasty crunch.
All local media was contacted in advance of each event and invited to attend each event on site. Most times, the Vlasic stork was booked on a local morning show to do an advance preview segment, demonstrating what people could look forward to with the crunch-offs. When sensible, Vlasic partnered with a radio station to garner more excitement in the community via promos, on air banter and live on site coverage.
Vlasic’s crunch-offs demonstrate that Vlasic pickles are crunchy ones, put a face to the brand with the use of the Vlasic stork and most importantly, build relations between Vlasic and its consumers.
