Maizena
Revamping Maizena’s brand appeal by engaging new audiences and showcasing culinary versatility on TikTok
The Objective
Reinventing Maizena to reach new audiences
Maizena, a traditional Mexican brand with over 120 years in the market, has long been associated with making tamales and atoles, especially among older generations. For this campaign, the brand aimed to reinvent itself and reposition its product by showcasing its versatility in the kitchen, especially with younger audiences.
The challenge was to move beyond its traditional uses, encouraging consumers to rediscover Maizena, become curious about the brand, and explore new culinary possibilities. The brand really wanted to connect with new, diverse users, particularly food enthusiasts interested in cooking hacks and experimenting with innovative recipes.
TikTok became the ideal partner for this mission, offering the brand high engagement and influence across generations, enabling Maizena to expand its reach and spark renewed interest in its product.
The Solution
Highlighting Maizena's versatility on TikTok
To achieve this, TikTok was a good strategic partner in revitalizing Maizena’s digital communication, showcasing the product and its benefits to different generations in an entertaining and authentic way with relevant creators, embracing a 100% TikTok-First strategy.
In collaboration with Initiative and Blue Monkeys, the campaign focused on highlighting Maizena’s three main benefits by leveraging TikTok’s FullScreen format and enlisting specialized creators (Monks of Munch, RobeGrill, and Denisse Castillo) for each culinary niche.
The strategy prioritized the platform’s language and edutainment style to engage the audience, supported by In-Feed Ads (Spark Ads) that helped maximize video views and increase audience retention. For Maizena’s repositioning, a strategy was developed with TikTok to emphasize each of the brand’s primary benefits, with a “Discover More” CTA and Display Card that directed to a brand site.
The campaign was rolled out in three stages:
First Phase: To start, the messaging focused on desserts, highlighting the fluffiness that Maizena brings to recipes.
Second Phase: Focused on the crispness Maizena adds to fried dishes.
Third Phase: To conclude, the campaign showcased the creaminess Maizena provides for sauces, creams, and soups.
Each phase was crafted to capture interest through relevant TikTok solutions, positioning Maizena as a versatile and modern kitchen brand.
The Results
Driving Awareness and Engagement
These were the results of the BLS Studies:
First Stage: Achieved a +15.7 percentage points (pp) increase in Campaign Recall and +8.1 pp in Product Awareness.
Second Stage: Reached a +2.7 pp increase in Purchase Intent.
Third Stage: Showed the most notable results with +16.2 pp in Campaign Recall, +4.2 pp in Brand Familiarity, and +5.1 pp in Purchase Intent.
These results highlight the campaign's success on TikTok and the strengthened positioning of Maizena on the platform.
Source: Internal Data, TikTok Marketing Science Mexico, BLS Study, May 2023
These results are the outcome of a strong collaboration with TikTok and our agencies, driven by a culture of continuous learning. This approach allowed us to redefine our strategy and planning, with a clear focus on objectives, deep audience insights, and close attention to emerging trends. In this way, we created content that is both irresistible and strategic, aligning with TikTok's language and leveraging the talent of creators relevant to our target audience.