Stella "Fontina Cheese" wedge with grapes, dried mango, raisins, cashews and raspberries; Stella logo centered
Submitted by LinqiaAgency IPI Score 54/100

Stella Cheese Holiday Recipe Influencer Program

Influencer Marketing

Linqia connected Saputo's Stella Cheese with 75 influencers for holiday recipes featuring the cheese as a key ingredient, reaching 248% more consumers than the program goal.

248%Reach vs Program Goal
28.5K+Landing Page Visits
114.5K+Online Engagements
86K+Social Engagements

About the campaign

Stella Cheese worked with Linqia and 75 influencers on holiday recipes that reached 248% more consumers than the program goal. Stella Cheese is a Saputo brand. It wanted to grow awareness of its cheese products and become the go-to brand for cheese-based recipes during the holiday season.

The agency connected the brand with 75 influencers in the Food, Parenting and Lifestyle verticals. The influencers bought Stella Cheese products and cooked original recipes for the holiday parties they planned to host. Each recipe came with a story about holiday traditions and hosting, published as recipes, photos, blog stories and social posts. The influencers asked audiences to create their own holiday recipes and sent them to a program landing page. A holiday giveaway offered a trip for two to Napa for a weekend of wine and cheese pairings.

The agency reports over 2,500 pieces of original content and 28,500+ visits to the program landing pages. Reach is given as 78.5 million consumers in the results and as nearly 35 million consumers in the solution, both 248% more than the program goal. Engagements are given as 114,500 online engagements and as 86,000+ social engagements. Stella Cheese reused the influencer photography on its website and social channels.

Case in 60 seconds

Saputo's Stella Cheese wanted to grow awareness of its cheese products and become the go-to brand for cheese-based recipes, so the work had to land in the weeks prior to Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukkah, during the busy holiday season.

Holiday hosts take recipe ideas from people planning the same kind of party, because a dish tied to another host's traditions and table carries more weight than a recipe printed by a cheese brand.

Linqia built the program around original holiday recipes in which Stella Cheese was a key ingredient, so the cheese reached audiences inside stories about hosting, family traditions and the food served at holiday parties.

Linqia connected Stella Cheese with 75 influencers in the Food, Parenting and Lifestyle verticals, who bought the cheese, cooked original recipes for their own holiday parties and published them as recipes, photos, blog stories and social posts. Each influencer sent audiences to a program landing page for more recipe ideas, while a holiday giveaway offered a trip for two to Napa.

Linqia reports over 2,500 pieces of original content, 28,500+ visits to the program landing pages and reach of 78.5 million consumers, 248% more than the program goal. The solution section gives nearly 35 million consumers and 86,000+ social engagements, against 114,500 online engagements in the results.

Strategy Breakdown

Followers of influencers in the Food, Parenting and Lifestyle verticals with a focus on holiday parties, cooking and recipes, reached in the weeks prior to Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukkah.
Cheese is bought as an ingredient rather than as a dish, so a brand that wants to own cheese-based recipes has to appear inside the recipe itself, which is why every influencer dish featured Stella Cheese as a key ingredient.
Stella Cheese takes the role of the ingredient in a host's holiday party dish, so the brand sits inside stories about traditions and entertaining instead of standing apart from them as an advertiser.
People planning holiday parties look for dishes they can make themselves, so a recipe from an influencer who is hosting the same season gives them something to cook as well as something to read.

Creative & Execution System

Assets & channels

  • Other

Partners

  • Linqia

Participation mechanic

  • Influencers encouraged their audiences to create their own holiday recipes with Stella Cheese and sent them to the program landing page for alternative recipe ideas, while a holiday giveaway offered a trip for two to Napa for a weekend of wine and cheese pairings.

Results & Evidence

MetricValue
Reach vs Program Goal248% more than goal
Landing Page Visits28.5K+ visits
Online Engagements114.5K+
Social Engagements86K+ social engagements
Original Content Pieces2,500+
Influencers75 influencers

Why Linqia's strategy worked

  1. 1

    Asking creators to buy the product and cook with it for their own parties produces photography a brand can reuse, which is why the Saputo marketing manager values the influencer product shots and recipes as content for its own channels.

  2. 2

    Credited creator content placed on a brand website keeps sending traffic back to the original posts, so blog stories featuring the product gain search value and stay discoverable long after the program closes.

  3. 3

    An invitation to cook a recipe at home, paired with a landing page of alternative recipe ideas, gives an awareness program a next step beyond the post, which turns reading into visits that can be counted.

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