Integrated Campaign For Snack Product Line
Breaking the rules of snacking making Dave’s Killer snack bites impossible to ignore.
Brandcenter Live Client: Tombras & Dave’s Killer Bread| Duration: 1 week (what we call a “Sprint”)
Client Ask: How can Dave’s Killer Bread stand out in the snack aisle?
Insight: Unexpected discovery sparks a desire that cannot be ignored.
Strategy: Remove the rules from snacking so that you can explore your cravings.
The Idea: “What’s Your Killer Kombo?” Turns Dave’s Killer Snack Bites into endless flavor possibilities through mix-and-match snacking.
Project Summary
Background
Dave’s Killer Bread has always stood for more than what’s on the label. It’s a brand rooted in second chances, self-expression, and doing things differently in the bread aisle.
While DKB's disruptive tactics work for them in the conservative bread aisle, they needed to get creative in a crowded and oversaturated snack aisle.
Positions DKB snacks within modern snacking culture
Drives relevance with a younger, more experimental audience
Stays true to DKB’s bold, unconventional DNA
Create an integrated campaign
in one week that:
The Challenge
How can we make Dave’s Killer Bites impossible to ignore in the snack aisle?
Core Objective
Tombras came to us with a predefined target audience called the “Bread-Heads” that leaned Millennial+ for the bread-buying market.
While keeping “Bread-Heads” at the center for bread, our team decided on shifting focus to Gen Z for snacking, an audience that increasingly prefers smaller, snackable moments over traditional meals, meeting them where they already are, without alienating the core.
A New Target Audience
We dove into the MRI Simmons database to uncover more about our Gen Z snackers, whom we started calling:
“New Wave Snackers”
The idea didn’t come from a long whiteboarding session.
It came from a team wine-and-snack tasting night.
Right after the project briefing, the team and I piled into cars to hit multiple grocery stores and hunt down every flavor of DKB snack bites.
That night, we came together to get our creative juices flowing.
At one point in the night, Zoe stacked two flavors in a single bite:
Bold Buffalo + PB & Chocolate.
She immediately said, “Wait… this tastes like pad thai.”
We were all skeptical, but then we tried it.
She was right…
And after putting together a few more snack combinations, we realized:
Dave’s Killer Snack Bites are not just a regular snack…
They are a canvas for combinations.
From Taste Test to Platform
The Insight:
Unexpected discovery
sparks a desire that
cannot be ignored.
The Strategy:
Remove the rules
from snacking so that you can
explore your cravings.
And just like that, Killer Kombos was born.
OOHs & Social Gifs
These OOH and social visuals bring the strategy to life by turning snacking into a playful, participatory behavior. Gen Z actively seeks out personalization and discovery, with 73% saying they prefer brands that allow them to customize their experience, and a majority turning to social platforms to find and try new food combinations. By reimagining familiar foods through unexpected flavor mashups, Dave’s becomes something people experiment with, share, and genuinely crave. This reinforces the shift from product-first to behavior-led, where the excitement is in creating your own “Killer Kombo.”
Social Content
Caption:
“Killer Kombos might just be changing the snack game forever...”
Social is where trends are born and remixed, so we tap into what’s already popping off, like viral audios, “try this combo” moments, and relatable food experiments, but make it distinctly Dave’s. Instead of chasing trends, we twist them through our brand lens and turn familiar formats into Killer Kombo moments that feel native, playful, and ownable.
Caption:
“Realizing you’ve hit flow state bc you managed to mix honey nut and epic everything (it tastes like a beer pretzel).”
Experiential & Instore
We brought the behavior into the real world by turning purchase into play. Dave’s hits the road starting at Natural Products Expo West, then takes Killer Kombos on tour through high-energy cultural moments.
At the center is a Guitar Hero–style interactive vending experience where players hit notes to build their own Killer Kombo, which is dispensed at the end. It taps into the brand’s rock-and-roll roots while creating a memorable, shareable moment people won’t forget.
Beyond events, combo stations show up in gas stations and grab-and-go retail, making it easy to mix, discover, and try on the spot. This drives trial and turns everyday snacking into an interactive experience.
We turned the store into a discovery moment. Floor decals in both the bread and snack aisles work together to shift behavior, guiding shoppers to think in combos, not single products.
In the bread aisle, we redirect loyal Dave’s buyers toward snacks, while in the snack aisle, we prompt new discovery and pairing. Together, they capture high-intent shoppers, drive cross-category movement, and encourage multi-flavor purchases, increasing average basket size right at the shelf.
Our concept increases purchases by making one flavor not enough.
To participate, you need at least two.
To understand it, you have to try it.
This drives:
Bigger baskets
More SKU trial
Real product proof through experience
For Gen Z, discovery beats persuasion every time.
In one week, we delivered:
A cross-channel rollout: OOHs, social, experiential, in-store
A culturally grounded campaign platform
A distinct positioning for DKB snacks
A big idea rooted in both product truth and human behavior
A 10-minute pitch deck to the senior strategy team at Tombras
Outcome
Account Manager × Creative Strategist
Led agency/client communication, translating feedback into clear direction
Kept an 8-person team aligned and organized under a fast-paced sprint
Helped shape the strategic shift from product to behavior
Grounded the idea in real cultural and consumer insights
Ensured the work connected from insight to execution across all touchpoints
My Role
Team: Caroline Thomas (Strategy), Tiara Strait (Strategy), Maddie Seabolt (CW), Maddie Green (AD), Sara Cole (XD), Zoe Kennedy (XD)
Learning
The best ideas don’t come from overthinking; they come from actually using the product and discovering a unique way in.
Being an account manager and strategist means keeping the team focused and organized while pushing the work forward creatively, turning insights into ideas and execution—fast.
Not bad for one week…right?