Missy Elliott is partnering with Doritos Collisions for a multi-platform campaign including TV spots, an online interactive experience and an exclusive track, which will not be commercially available. The Grammy Award-winning artist is filming the TV spot in Los Angeles today, Billboard.biz has learned.
In the TV spot that debuts Sept. 17, Elliott is seen working on a new track and then pausing to snack on Doritos Collisions chips. Inspired by the two different-tasting chips in the same bag, Elliott has an epiphany: her song needs two different musical styles. So, she immediately injects her hip-hop track with a little bit of country twang.
The campaign was created by the Goodby, Silverstein & Partners agency. According to Rudy Wilson, brand manager of Doritos, the campaign’s multi-million dollar media buy is the brand’s biggest advertising spend of the year, outside of its Super Bowl ad buy.
Elliott’s manager, Mona Scott of Violator Management, says the campaign offered her client the perfect creative outlet. “The whole idea of the mash-up is so prevalent and popular in music today,” Scott says. “It’s so Missy. And the fact that the campaign takes place in a studio means that Missy remains in her element, which makes the whole thing authentic.”
But Scott acknowledges there was another important element that helped cinch the deal: “The TV portion is fine,” she explains, “but the Internet element provides us with a great back-end.” A link takes fans to Elliott’s Web site, where they learn more about the artist and her forthcoming, new album (tentatively titled “The Countdown”), due in December from The Gold Mind/Atlantic Records. “We see this as a great way to further maximize Missy the artist and the new album,” Scott adds.
Wilson calls the online experience “a bold, intensive experience for our consumers.” Visitors logging on to snackstrongproductions.com will be encouraged to create their own mash-ups (or “collisions”), using Elliott’s track as the foundation. Completed mixes can be posted and shared in a “gallery” on the site. Five winners — with prizes still to be determined — will be selected.
Elliott fans visiting the site can also “interact” with the artist, Wilson says. “If you press the ‘help’ button, Missy will give you a few tips and pointers.” The online platform will also contain exclusive footage of Elliott.
The original track, created by Elliott especially for Doritos, will not be commercially available, and it will not appear on her new album. Still, it could be expanded into a full track, Scott says. “We’ve already started exploring ways to further Missy’s relationship with Doritos,” she says. “So, this piece of music could be developed into a full song for an upcoming Doritos campaign. The possibilities are many.”
