Produce a fresh, fun, and cohesive tone that helps Marzetti Classics Ranch and Blue Cheese breakthrough during the fall football season.
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Marzetti’s been making premium, top-shelf ranch and blue cheese for over 100 years. Since it's stocked in the refrigerated section, these products are sometimes missed by the dressing & dips crowd. Marzetti squeezable dressings are perfect for game day and we want to create shareable, snackable content that positions Marzetti Classics Ranch & Blue Cheese as the must-have game day dips so consumers can win the spread on game day and cement their place as one of the best kept secrets of the grocery store. They're looking to shift from the standard recipe content to bold, comedy-first social content. This is top-tier Ranch and Blue Cheese, especially now that Marzetti Classics Blue Cheese has the signature chunks that you can’t find in other squeezable blue cheese dressings, and Marzetti wants to do something unexpected to generate some attention on social media. In the past, they've led with more traditional influencer-style content, heavy on recipes and food pairing suggestions, but now they want to move away from that and shift towards something can resonate with a younger, male-leaning audience. They're looking for a bold comedy play that looks at these dressings through the lens of fall sports, home tailgates, and game day parties.
The goal of the project is to make a suite of four different short social-first videos focused on the Marzetti Classics Ranch and Chunky Blue Cheese dressings, each in their squeezable bottles. They’re looking for bold, narrative-driven videos, no longer than :15, and the creative should feel fun, humorous, and maybe even slightly “unhinged." While the product needs to be heavily featured in the spots, we all know what to do with Ranch dressing. The talent - aka the customer - should remain the hero of the spots while highlighting key benefits of the product. The brand wants a variety of unexpected, comedic, and sports-centric approaches that break the mold, stand out, and resonate with their target audience. Just to give you a glimpse of where the brand’s at, they threw out the idea of putting a character in a Squeezable Ranch bottle costume, and having that character burst through the wall into a boring game-day party, ala the Kool-Aid Man. You obviously do not have to create a mascot or do anything like that, but we thought that gave you a pretty good sense of how open-minded they were here. They are also playing with the idea of this initiative using the tagline Win the Spread with Marzetti. This doesn't have to necessarily impact your creative approach, but if you find inspiration with that tagline then we want to see you run with it!
In terms of the video breakdown, since we've got two different products, and we're creating four unique videos, the intention is that you'll have three distinct concepts focused on ranch and one distinct concept focused on blue cheese, each with an associated cutdown. The four videos do not need to take the exact same approach, so you have a lot of flexibility and latitude, as long the creative approach helps drive the messaging. Messaging will be key here though, as we aren't looking for these to be generic ads, but we do still need the key benefits of each product to be communicated in a fun, humorous, and maybe even absurd way. The brand will provide an overview of the important information that they'll want to touch upon for each product, but ultimately it will be up to you to take that overview, distill it down, and craft it into a short cohesive script. You can find some (but not all) of the key messaging points in the Background.
In terms of execution, this can either be smartphone-shot content with more limited lighting and production design, or it can be (a little) more polished and professional, as long as the core focus remains on the specific product being featured and the specific goal of that video. It is not necessary for you to have a large team or extensive production capacities to execute this project. As previously mentioned, at their heart, these videos are brand awareness pieces. They're not looking for overly elaborate "commercial" executions and the brand is most interested in having these videos feel native to social platforms.
When it comes to filming food, it’s definitely got to look appetizing. With all that in mind, you want to be thoughtful and particularly creative about how you feature the dressings and any food it may be used on (e.g. wings, pizza, or other game day dipping snacks). Having a dedicated food stylist for this project isn't mandatory, though we'd suggest it. We'd also suggest highlighting any experience you or your team have with food content, though again this is not a mandatory barrier of entry. For this shoot, product will be provided, and if your idea warrants it, the brand could be open to shipping a lot of it.
FOR YOUR PITCH: Your pitch treatment should include at least one approach for Ranch and at least one approach for Chunky Blue Cheese. We want to know how you would execute the videos, making them feel bespoke to the specific product while fitting into the game-day/fall sports/home tailgate theming, and how the creative's really going to stand out and be memorable. Marzetti will work with the greenlit filmmaker to hone the creative approach. Feel free to include links to any existing TikTok videos (they don't have to be your own) that represent the style you'd be aiming for, if applicable.
Check out more information in the Background, and for any questions or other project updates, check out the Project Forum.
DELIVERABLES: There are 8 total video assets.
EXPECTED TIMELINE: HERE
EXPOSURE: We expect content will be used on the platforms below, but if casting talent, be sure they review our required Talent Release before they're cast, as we CANNOT guarantee that usage is limited to these platforms. You should also review our Music providers in the Project Requirements, as well as the platform best practices.
TARGET AUDIENCE: Younger, male-skewing audience (Gen Z / Millennial). Home hosts, party planners, sports fans, tailgaters, and those who take "game day" seriously.
TONE/FEEL: Unexpected, engaging, warm, entertaining, relatable, clever, fun, humorous, slightly unhinged.
AI USAGE: You may not use AI generated visual or audio assets in your final content. However, for the purposes of your pitch and pre-production materials, you are welcome to use generative AI to create visuals, storyboards, animatics, proofs-of-concept, etc. that might help the Sponsor understand your vision for creating the final content. Additionally, assistive AI tools (e.g. object removal, compositing, color grading, sound mixing, subtitling, etc.) may be used in post-production to supplement your workflow. Please keep record of any AI usage deployed in your submissions in the event that the Sponsor requests AI disclosures. If you have questions about any specific usage or tool, please ask your Tongal producer.
By participating in this project, creators acknowledge that the Sponsor is under no obligation to greenlight a submission. Though most projects do move forward, we'll notify you in the event the Sponsor decides not to fund any submissions via the Project Forum. Regardless of the result, all submissions will be reviewed and evaluated by the Sponsor and project team.
BRAND BACKGROUND & Mission:
KEY MESSAGING:
HELPFUL REFERENCE VIDEOS FOR INSPIRATION/TONE:
In order to be considered, include the below materials in your submission. For examples of effective pitches, check out this gallery. All Pitches remain private, even after a Pitch is selected, and Tongal strives to have Pitch selections made by the end of the Evaluation period, but additional time may be required by the Sponsor, depending on any number of factors. Unless specifically requested, there's no need to include a budget with your submission.
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PRE-PRODUCTION BIBLE & APPROVALS: Prior to the commencement of actual production, creators MUST prepare a singular pre-production "bible" document with the elements contained below, and that document MUST receive final approval from the Sponsor. We recommend that you use the bible template we provide HERE, or something very similar. The bible can be presented in stages as different elements are ready for review (i.e. it's not expected that storyboards, if required, are ready with your first draft). Apart from the below, you're also welcome to include other key items that you think would be helpful to communicate your plan (e.g. moodboards, lighting, music, shot list, etc.).
Note that there may be multiple rounds of feedback until elements are approved, and if you begin production before you have received final approval, you may need to reshoot or reanimate at your own expense.
For convenience, we've provided some helpful templates that you can consider using for pre-production materials, and they can all be accessed here.
REVISION REQUIREMENTS & RESOURCES: Once Content has been submitted and the initial Production Phase completed, greenlit creators will enter into Revisions. Creators will perform reasonable edits on their videos according to the Sponsor's feedback. Check out our Filmmaker Resource Portal to access helpful post-production resources like Text-Safe Guides for different platforms, Project File Organization Tutorial, Export Presets, and Captioning services.
MUSIC: If you use music from a library for your content, you MUST use one of Tongal's music providers: Universal Production Music, PrimalHouse, or Slipstream. Music from these providers is available to registered Tongal members at no charge solely for their incorporation into submissions to this project, and will not require a Music Release Form. To learn more, click on any of the providers' names above.
If you use original music, you must fill out and submit our Music Release Form. Please ensure your composer reviews and signs this form BEFORE beginning their work.
STOCK FOOTAGE: Tongal has partnered with the stock footage library Storyblocks, which can be used to source video clips, photography, and After Effects templates for your video submission to this project. Video or photo content from Storyblocks is available at no charge, solely for incorporation into submissions on this project, and will not require a separate Release Form. If identifiable people or intellectual property appears in a video clip or photo, you may only utilize assets that are clearly marked “Model released: Yes” or “Property release: Yes” on the clip description pages. You may NOT use any audio.
If you intend to use Storyblocks, inform your Tongal producer, and an account will be created for you to access the library. Once assets are approved for delivery, you must provide a complete list of all Storyblocks content that you used via our template HERE.
ASSET DELIVERY REQUIREMENTS & RESOURCES: You must also provide all project files, editing sequences and a 1080p .mov master file, using a ProRes, Animation, or Uncompressed Codec in order to submit final payment. You are responsible for any costs associated with the hard drive and shipping. Tongal also reserves the right to request all raw files associated with the project.
To ensure a smoother delivery, please review the Export Presets, Specifications, and Project File Organization Tutorial in our Filmmaker Resource Portal.