‘Worth It’ Indeed: Shake Shack’s Ad Campaign and the Art of Culinary Storytelling

Created by agency Preacher, Shake Shack’s ‘Worth It’ campaign serves up a feast for the senses, showcasing the allure of the brand’s signature burgers with close-up shots and slow-motion sequences. The voiceover in the ad invites viewers to appreciate the brand’s “culinary craftsmanship” and top quality ingredients. 

The campaign is set to run on a variety of platforms, including CTV and social media channels.

Here’s what iSpot’s Creative Assessment platform revealed on actual viewer response to the campaign.

The Details:

• The focus on premium ingredients and the craftsmanship in Shake Shack sandwiches was very successful at sparking plenty of Yummy response in viewer comments on the two :30 spots, with Prodtastic references also seen:
  
  
  • Many found humor in the presentation while the :30 “Chicken Shack” elicited a sense of being Healthy and Authentic. Both ads conveyed Value and enjoyed some Love It response as well.
    
    
  • The ads drove very strong consumer intent with 74%-75% of all American viewers seeing the ads professing to be more likely to purchase (+8 to +9 pts over QSR one-year norms). An impressive 45%-46% were much more likely to consider Shake Shack.

• While the visuals captured the audience by breaking through (Attention and Likeability), the Information on the ingredients made both new ads highly Relevant—and felt different/unique (Change)—to consumers:
  
  
  • That culinary focus appealed broadly, with the “healthy” halo of the Chicken Shack appealing more strongly to younger viewers 16-35.

• Viewer comments on the ads were highly encouraging with a very impressive 75% of sentiment on “Chicken Shack” being positive and 66% of “Shackburger” sentiment leaning affirmatively:
  
  
  • Those seeing “Chicken Shack” were very interested in the ingredient explanations which also added some colorful humor. The only notable objection for a set of viewers was watching people eat the sandwiches; a turnoff for some. Overall, sentiment leaning negative, however, was very limited in size.

Sample comments on “Chicken Shack: Worth It” :30

“I’ve never been to Shake Shack but I definitely want to try it now, the chicken looked amazing, the sauce, just everything about this ad got my attention. In fact, I’m definitely going to get this this week. The visuals were amazing. They grab your attention and bring you in to the point where you can almost smell it through the video. All I have to say is YES PLEASE.”
Female 36-49

“I love the way that they showed the ingredients and the beautiful way they photographed and filmed. I also love to see what’s in what I’m eating.”
Male 16-20

“I don’t want to see a woman open her mouth to food any longer than she bites it. It’s disgusting. Other than that, ad visuals good overall.”
Male 21-35

“I’ve always been very picky about chicken sandwiches. 1) I prefer burgers. 2) Some chicken sandwiches are incredibly bland. After seeing the process and what a Shake Shack chicken sandwich is made of, I feel compelled to try it out (right now, honestly).”
Female 16-20

“Shake Shack’s ad for their new chicken sandwich looks absolutely delicious. I think it’s cute and funny the way that they describe the ingredients of the sandwich. It made me hungry and I wish I could try this sandwich right now!”
Female 36-49

“I like it very much because I think it’s unique and different from other brands that would make me very likely to try this restaurant.”
Male 21-35

“The chicken sandwich from Shake Shack might have just put up big competition with Chick-fil-A and Popeyes with the chicken sandwiches.”
Male 16-20

• The two new Shake Shack creatives placed within range of other highly competitive burger/chicken QSR ads over the past year in sparking consumer consideration:
  
  
  • The McDonald’s ad, however, offered free fries on Fridays rather than a burger or chicken offering.

• With over 40% of each ad’s audience having never tried Shake Shack, there is good potential for business expansion given above-norm response among these considerers (as well as unfamiliars and lapsed and current users):
  
  
  • Shake Shack can consider increasing support behind this campaign.
    
    
  • However, consideration of an opening branding card or continuous logo with the brand spelled out could ensure follow-through on the strong intent professed by viewers, as unaided Shake Shack recall trailed QSR norms for both ads.

• “Worth It” showed strong appeal across ethnicity and all QSR intenders regardless of frequency of visits:

Advertisers need to identify the creative that will drive business outcomes and ensure that in-market execution aligns against the highest potential ads.

Schedule a demo to find out how your brand can partner with iSpot to quickly solve both challenges simultaneously, delivering high-performing creative while boosting the effectiveness of planning and in-market execution to achieve—and outperform—campaign objectives.

Creative Agency: Preacher