Old El Paso targets Gen Z Consumers with Street Vibes range

Old El Paso is upping the ante on the brand’s Street Vibes range as it plans to reach younger consumers through multi-channel touch points.

The latest campaign for the General Mills-owned brand from VCCP, titled 'Make Some Noise', will be backed by investment of over £1.1 million and will run across a bespoke channel mix of BVOD, OLV, social and digital to target smaller households. This has been planned around the insight that less than half of Gen Zs watching broadcast TV,

The campaign hinges on the idea that the buzz and vibrancy of Mexican street food restaurants offer a feast for the senses, that in turn amplifies the eating experience beyond the norm. The creative therefore captures these fun and flavourful Mexican Street Food ‘vibes’, that the range can unlock any night of the week.

There are over 8.3 million two-person households in the UK yet surprisingly 75 per cent of those yet to buy into the category are made up of one to two person households. As smaller households are often a younger, pre-family shopper with a taste for adventurous flavours, Old El Paso’s new campaign cleverly taps into the opportunity; research shows younger consumers typically enjoy a wider range of global tastes at home and one in three Gen Z and Millennials are looking to try new things. 

Out-of-home street food flavours are also increasingly infiltrating retail, with one in two global consumers seeking products, such as Street Vibes, which are inspired by the street food flavour.

Street Vibes is one of Old El Paso’s biggest launches to date, putting street-style soft tacos on the menu in just 20 minutes – with a wide range of soft taco kits, delicious sauces and spice mixes. Centreed around the brand’s first-ever meal kit for two people, the range is perfect for duos looking to turn up the vibes on a date or mates night at home with two popular street-food inspired flavours: Barbacoa and Al Pastor.

Through the new campaign, Street Vibes will also be unmissable in store. Disruptive in-aisle activations will be live through the autumn, designed to invite new shoppers into the vibrant world of Mexican meals and help retail partners cater to a wider range of people. In addition, the brand will execute a bumper couponing plan to get the product into as many hands as possible. 

Aditi Hilgers, head of World Foods UK at General Mills, says: “With Street Vibes all about turning flavour, fun and vibes up a notch, we are buzzing to bring a campaign to life that follows suit. 

“The creative calls out what makes Street Vibes different from the rest of our much loved, well-known core range. Coupled with the message that Street Vibes is the ticket for ‘turning up’ the flavour on a date or mates night, we’re confident of its massive potential to attract new younger, smaller households into Mexican who have been petitioning us to do something different. “

Campaign credits

CAMPAIGN TITLE: Old El Paso Street Vibes

CLIENT: Old El Paso

ADVERTISING AGENCY: VCCP

CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Ciara O'Meara

COPYWRITER AND ART DIRECTOR: Hannah Talbut and Joanne Boyle

BUSINESS DIRECTOR: Sean Kelly

SENIOR ACCOUNT DIRECTOR: Christina Caillard

ACCOUNT MANAGER: Holly Stockley 

PLANNER: Harry Neale 

AGENCY TV PRODUCER: Max Thomas 

AGENCY CREATIVE PRODUCER: Rosie Greig 

DIRECTOR: Claire Norowzian