America's most watched cooking competition show, MasterChef, has a highly engaged and active social media fan base.
In the iconic MasterChef "Mystery Box Challenge" contestants are given a box of mystery ingredients and must create an elevated meal to impress judges Gordon Ramsay, Joe Bastianich and Graham Elliot. Contestants each have a unique take on their mystery ingredients and the judges are presented with distinctive dishes that represent contestants' personalities.
Recognizing MasterChef fans craved a higher level of engagement with the series and particularly the "Mystery Box Challenge," Endemol Shine North America and FOX saw Tumblr's passionate fan communities as the perfect platform to partner with. Together, the three parties launched an interactive, multiplatform campaign that brought an array of high-quality content to fans and delivered the "Mystery Box Challenge" into the kitchens of viewers from coast to coast.
The "MasterChef Mystery Box at Home" campaign challenged top Tumblr creators in the food space to share their take on the "Mystery Box Challenges" seen in-show, aiming to grow engagement and drive show awareness and tune-in. We partnered with food-delivery service Plated to provide the creators with ingredients inspired by the weekly in-show Mystery Boxes.
The season-long activation was promoted in-show through on-air spots with a call-to-action for viewers to take on the challenge themselves. The campaign was also heavily promoted online through Tumblr and the official MasterChef website and social media handles.
Engagement on the MasterChef Tumblr increased over 7,000% and conversations mentioning "MasterChef" across Tumblr tripled from start to end of the partnership. The initiative was lauded in the New York Times.
How do you create an engaging at-home social media viewing experience for a cooking show like MasterChef, America's most watched cooking competition series? Viewers can hear a singing competition. They can "play at home" with a game show. But they can't smell or taste the food of a cooking competition show. How do you bring cooking from the TV screen, into homes, and engage fans on social media?
This is the challenge we as social media marketers face when developing campaigns to reach our fans. With food and cooking being one of the top verticals and passion points on Tumblr and the "Mystery Box" challenge being one of the most beloved elements of the series, the "MasterChef Mystery Box at Home" Tumblr campaign proved to be the perfect answer.
The MasterChef "Mystery Box Challenge" presents contestants with a box of mystery ingredients from which they must create an elevated meal to impress judges Gordon Ramsay, Joe Bastianich and Graham Elliot. Viewers excitedly await the ingredient reveal and discuss the resulting dishes – and what they think could have been done better - across various social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and more.
Our goal was to create a social media activation that would give viewers an extended, engaging off-air experience with the fan-favorite Mystery Box. Fans could not only participate at home with the "Mystery Box Challenge," but be inspired by Tumblr influencers and share their creations with like-minded home-cooks.
What resulted was nothing short of a ground swell of home-cooks who had a platform like Tumblr – the top blogging site and home to over 220 million blogs - to share their individual interpretations of Mystery Box ingredients with Tumblr influencers and fans of all ages.
The initiative was lauded in the New York Times, and engagement on the MasterChef Tumblr increased over 7,000% and conversations mentioning "MasterChef" across Tumblr tripled from start to end of the partnership.
"MasterChef Mystery Box at Home" Tumblr campaign broke down barriers allowing fans and Tumblr creators to be part of a cooking competition series in their own home by providing an immersive and engaging platform and experience to share their creativity and passion with like-minded viewers.
