Many believe sauce doesn’t belong on steak. And A.1. Sauce? Practically illegal. But the more we looked, the more we discovered how many secretly loved it. Social post after social post revealed that although folks really enjoyed A.1. on any cut of steak, they actively avoided fancy steak restaurants because of sauce shaming. And frankly, they were sick of the judgement.
As a 160-year-old brand with a bold and unapologetic love for red meat, we weren’t going to stand idly by in this steak sauce debate.
We needed to do something. Raise awareness? Jump into the conversation? No. We needed to stir a sauce rebellion. One that would inspire fans to reject the steak status quo completely and empower them to boldly sauce their steaks whenever the hell they wanted.
So, we set out to turn A.1. Shame into A.1. Pride.
The idea was simple but bold. If they don’t serve A.1., bring your own A.1. Or, BYO A.1.
Yes, we called on fans to smuggle their own bottles right into those fancy restaurants – rules be damned. In other words, steak it to the steakhouses. The reward for those who did it? Dinner on us. A photo of the bottle and bill, and fans could consider their meal comped.
The campaign kicked off during the holiday season, the busiest time of year for steakhouses.
We dropped firebrand films and social content videos across multiple social channels that called on fans to rise up and sauce up; to pack their purses, jackets and even sleeves, and put A.1. back on the steakhouse table.
Next, we strategically intercepted steak fans where they’d be looking for their next meal on restaurant reservation and review sites with ads that called on them to join our mission.
Then we enlisted steak-loving influencers who repped our own bold, red meat energy to lead fans en masse. We even sent a special edition BYO A.1. bottle to take with them.
The steak sauce rebellion took off. Fans all over social were coming out to represent. With A.1. Sauce in-hand, they flooded steakhouses by the thousands – 7,529 to be exact. And instead of judgment, they got payment. Fancy dinners, casual dinners, solo dinners and dinner dates. It didn’t matter – we comped meals of every variety. Heck, we even comped a steak taco dinner.
This campaign garnered 39M+ Earned Impressions and 6.8M Social Views. It also led directly to a 5% increase in sales, or a whopping 604,562 additional bottles to sauce more steaks. It was clear our war on steak elites had turned the status quo on its head. Not only did we re-steak our claim on red meat, we turned A.1. Shame into A.1. Pride.
