CASE 80 / Doritos / Frito-Lay / 2022
Triangle Tracker
A distinctive shape can turn the surrounding world into a participation prompt.
AI-assisted research and analysis for the SNS Creative Fieldbook
Sources reviewed 2026-11-05
Campaign credits belong to the original creators. They did not write or endorse this analysis.
Credits: Goodby Silverstein & Partners; The One Club also credits OMD, The Marketing Arm, Ketchum, Masters & Savant, Snapchat, Motive and D3.
Recognition: 2023 One Show Merit in Direct Marketing, Non-traditional & Guerrilla Marketing.
Launch / edition: 2022. Award years: 2023.
The problem. The idea. The experience.
Doritos wanted its triangular shape to create a more participatory connection with younger audiences.
How the idea came to life
A Snapchat lens recognized real-world triangles and transformed them into branded chips, linking scans to prize opportunities. Triangular buildings supplied launch-scale outdoor executions.
How it reached people
Weekly TikTok challenges, partner logos, MTV VMA content and a Fortnite experience extended the idea across physical and digital settings.
Supporting sources: Primary brand release → Primary award archive →
Read the data in context.
The numbers below describe different kinds of outcomes. Their date, scope and reporting source are part of the result.
The reviewed brand launch and award pages establish the activation and recognition but do not publish a reliable participation, sales or incremental-return result.
The creative mechanism.
AR recognition of a simple brand asset across real-world objects
Choose an asset people can find
The world becomes a useful canvas when the brand cue is simple enough to recognize outside an advertisement. A complex logo may be harder to turn into a game than a shape, color or sound. Test recognizability before investing in the technology.
Technology should make the idea easier
The lens has a clear task: connect an ordinary object to the brand. A technical feature that requires extensive explanation adds friction. Prototype the simplest interaction and test failure cases, especially different lighting, devices and environments.
Partners can expand the same idea
A shared visual feature gives multiple partners a coherent reason to participate. This is stronger than unrelated sponsorship placements. Every extension should reinforce the core association rather than introduce a new game the audience must learn.
Recognition is not effectiveness
An award can validate originality without proving commercial impact. When performance data are absent, study the mechanism honestly and design a test for your own use. Do not fill the evidence gap with assumed virality or sales.
The intended behavior loop
- 01Notice a familiar shape
- 02Try the scanning interaction
- 03Receive a branded response
- 04Look for more examples
- 05Remember the brand cue in everyday surroundings
Growth job: Environmental noticing → interaction → brand-memory reinforcement. This is an interpretation of the mechanism, not an audited attribution model.
A direction to take into the room.
Original editorial interpretation and proposed adaptation. This is a proposed adaptation, not historical campaign execution or a forecast.
The transferable principle
Identify one distinctive brand cue that people can notice or collect in everyday life, then test a simple interaction before building a large platform.
Keep these boundaries
Do not encourage trespass, unsafe scanning while moving or intrusive photography. Do not imply award recognition proves return on investment.
Turn the lesson into a test.
Illustrative adaptation, not a historical campaign fact
A small-team experiment
A design shop runs a local color-spotting challenge with consented submissions and a simple mobile page rather than custom AR.
Build the test
- Define a safe, accessible prompt and clear contest rules.
- Avoid collecting unnecessary location or identity data.
- Test whether participants connect the cue to the brand.
Measure the right thing
Measure completed interactions and unaided brand association against a normal promotional post.
Know when to stop
Stop if participation creates safety or privacy issues or people cannot identify the sponsoring brand.
How this reading fits your brief
Start with the useful part.
Best for: Environmental noticing → interaction → brand-memory reinforcement
What to adapt: A distinctive shape can turn the surrounding world into a participation prompt.
Prerequisites: Creator contracts and usage rights; Clear sponsorship disclosure; Product and factual review; Defined measurement window.
Smaller-team route: Identify one distinctive brand cue that people can notice or collect in everyday life, then test a simple interaction before building a large platform.
Budget: Not established by the cited public sources. No cost-fit claim is made.
Trade-offs and evidence: Read the limits below before choosing a test. There is no guaranteed reach, sales lift or ROAS.
Questions for your next brief
- Which brand asset can people recognize beyond our packaging?
- Does the technology reduce effort or merely add spectacle?
Sources & further reading.
Brand and award-entry results are attributed claims, not independent causal audits. Source links open the original third-party pages.
- PepsiCo: Triangle Tracker launch, 24 August 2022 →Primary brand release · Supports: Launch date, channels, prize mechanics and partnerships.
- The One Club: Triangle Tracker, 2023 →Primary award archive · Supports: Creative mechanism, agency credits and Merit status.
Independent educational analysis of external campaigns. These are not SNS client projects, endorsements or claims of involvement. Campaign facts and reported outcomes are attributed to their sources. Explanations, adaptations and test plans are original analysis and hypotheses, not proven causal findings.