The Campaign

With political and economic uncertainty, skyrocketing cost of living, frequent power cuts and weakening law & order – the people of Pakistan had become increasingly frustrated and unhappy. As a result, they were smiling less, so much so that Pakistan had slipped in rank in the World Happiness Index. Something had to be done. So we introduced the Lay’s “Pass A Smile” campaign. Through a very clever and simple packaging design innovation, we converted Lay’s packets into interactive media vehicles of happiness, turning the packs into bright and positive smiles. A clever design exercise of adding a beaming smile on the lower half of a face on the front of the pack automatically completed the consumer's face as they held up the bag, effectively turning our packaging into billboards. Lay’s invited everyone in Pakistan to pass a smile to others using their packaging as a media device.

Creative Execution

The primary media touch point was the packaging itself, which was overhauled to include a dominant smile placed on the top half of the packet in such a way that a consumer would hold it against their face and thus complete the design. This was incredibly innovative in a marketplace that is often overcrowded with hundreds of brands, and the fight for standing out on the shelf is brutal. We worked with existing packaging guidelines and photographed 60 different smiles ranging from the very wide grins to the more demure smirks. The wardrobe choices and other color elements were carefully selected to mirror flavor hints, such as red for spicy.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

“Pass A Smile” became the most successful campaign in the history of PepsiCo Pakistan. At the end of the 2-month campaign, we achieved a phenomenal 16% sales growth, 8% rise in Brand Love, and a remarkable 13% rise in brand consideration. A record 4.9 million entries were submitted in the promotion while #PassASmile became the longest trending hashtag in Pakistan's history. Not only had we become the No.1 brand on digital in Pakistan amongst relevant brands, but we had managed to sell an incredible 70 million+ packs in 2 months, a new record for Lay's. And all this for a budget that was significantly less than our competitor. We had also managed to make an entire nation smile. Not only did the campaign surpass all business-brand-marketing objectives, but what made us really proud is the fact that Pakistan rose 12 ranks on the World Happiness Index.

Lay's manifesto urged the message of making a day more flavorful. We felt nothing exemplified that better than getting people to smile. After designing our primary media device: the packaging, we launched with a TVC that portrayed our packs as the trigger to pass a smile to those who faced any challenging everyday life situation. Creative communication was integrated across mainstream, digital, PR and ambient channels through creative message delivery across each consumer touch-point. To further create an impact and influence for the campaign, we also leveraged celebrities to pass a smile to their followers, and then followed up with a clever front cover print campaign and the first ever interactive billboard in Pakistan on which people could share their smiles. In parallel, a 50 days ‘Lay’s Summer Smiles’ promotional leg was also crafted. We knew we were a big hit when people started generating memes based on our packaging.