Marketing in the moment: Cheetos rides an earned-media wave by tapping customer sentiment

Cheetos, a cheese-flavored snack owned by Frito-Lay, has driven consumer attention and engagement by turning to its online fans for inspiration.

One person’s misshapen, cheesy snack food is another person’s piece of art.

Just ask the most passionate fans of Cheetos, the crispy, cheese-puff snack that has been around since the 1940s.

Ryan Matiyow, senior director/marketing for North America, Frito-Lay

Tapping into that passion was the key to a multi-year strategy that has transformed and boosted Cheetos’ public profile, Ryan Matiyow, Frito-Lay’s senior director/marketing for North America, told delegates at the Association of National Advertisers’ (ANA) 2018 Digital and Social Media Conference.

It was all made possible by the snack-food company’s focus on “looking at the world through the eyes of...

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