PepsiCo looks to strengthen its hold on tortilla chips category with Doritos Dinamita

Doritos has embarked on an explosive journey with the launch of its new TV campaign to introduce the fiery new addition to its repertoire – Doritos Dinamita.

In a move inspired by its globally renowned success, Doritos Dinamita has made its debut in two “explosive” flavours – Fiery Lime and Chilli and Sizzlin’ Hot – meticulously tailored to the discerning Indian palate. With this innovative offering, Doritos is poised to maintain its pre-eminence in one of the world’s fastest-growing tortilla chips markets.

The TVC vividly brings to life the “explosive” nature of the product, featuring a group of campers stranded in the wilderness, desperately awaiting rescue. After days of futile attempts to signal a hovering chopper, the youngest camper stumbles upon the last packet of Doritos Dinamita in his backpack. In a stroke of brilliance, he munches on the dynamite-shaped chip, triggering an explosion that grabs the chopper’s attention and ultimately saves the day.

In conversation with Adgully, Pranshu Sahni, Category Lead, Doritos, PepsiCo India, speaks about the new category, their new TVC, growth of the chilli category for PepsiCo, and much more…

Elaborating on the burgeoning interest in chilli-based products and the unique attributes of Doritos Dinamita, Sahni noted, “The chilli bucket in India is a growing bucket, and we thought we leveraged that with Sizzling Hot. This year, we launched and got into a new platform with Dinamita and it is a differentiated product at every level, which you might not have had before in this country and that’s something which is our USP for this product.”

Delving into the flavour profile, Sahni emphasised on how Doritos meticulously tailors its products to suit the Indian palate. He said, “Doritos as a brand is a corn chip trademark, anything related to corn on the snacks portfolio. It does not venture into other categories. PepsiCo is led by Doritos. We do a comprehensive consumer testing before we launch anything on our products. Both the flavours, which have been launched in the country, have been validated by the consumer completely. While there are global flavours at the base of it, the taste has been tweaked as per Indian preferences.”

Highlighting the importance of product format, Sahni explained, “Every product comes with an experience with different shapes, if you see it’s an engineering thing, when the R&D works on it, it brings out what is the best shape to get you the best flavour, that’s how product formats work. Every flavour does not work in every format, that’s how it is, it’s a combination of the format and the flavour that makes the product so special.”

Regarding the key demographics for Doritos Dinamita, Sahni observed, “Currently, India has the biggest young population in the world and that is where consumption is sitting today. It’s a TG that actually spends more time on digital, is more tech savvy, they are very clear about the choices they want to make, and they know what they want to have. Keeping those insights in mind, we have launched this product.”

Further outlining the campaign’s objectives, Sahni said, “The objective behind this TVC is to build awareness of the platform. The TVC will be the lead creative to bring awareness of Dinamita and that’s the 70% mix of our spends. The rest, 30% of our spends will go into amplifying the TVC. This will be led through 360 degree communication. This is all work in progress for now.”

In terms of opportunities in the tortilla chips category, Sahni pointed out, “Tortilla chips is a very nascent category in India. Doritos was the first brand which brought tortillas to the country and we are the pioneers in that. As market leaders globally in multiple markets, it is our responsibility to grow the category and give consumers new experiences with every product. The key role of my brand is to grow the tortilla chips category and get more consumers to the tortilla chips category.”