Flavour Without Borders: How Kikkoman Outperformed Brand Ads by 300% on CTV
- May 12
- 2 min read
Soy sauce is a kitchen staple, but in a category often dominated by traditional "Asian only" recipes, Kikkoman needed to expand its reach and appeal. Looksee was tasked with a multi layered strategy that combined celebrity authority with "foodie" creativity to drive mass market recognition and digital first efficiency.
The Challenge: Disrupting the "Standard" Ad Experience
The goal was to produce affordable, high quality branded content that felt as at home on a smartphone screen as it did on a 65-inch television. We needed to prove that influencer-led creative could not only live on CTV (Connected TV) and BVOD (Broadcast Video on Demand) but actually outperform high-budget brand commercials.
The Strategy: The "Hero & Community" Model
We built a two-tiered content engine designed to build trust at every level of the funnel:
The Authority Tier (Celebrity Recognition): We produced an exclusive video cooking series featuring celebrity chefs Hayden Quinn and Adam Liaw. These household names provided instant brand authority and premium production value, acting as the "hook" for mass market recognition.
The Creator Tier (Niche Engagement): To support the celebrities, we activated a community of 32 "foodie" influencers. Their mission was to break the mold, creating fun, non-traditional recipes that showcased Kikkoman’s versatility beyond traditional stir-fries or Asian dishes.
Format-First Production: We specifically produced this content to be "boostable" across multiple channels, ensuring the lighting, pacing, and storytelling were optimised for both social feeds and broadcast quality streaming.
The Technical Insight: Winning the "Completion" War
The most significant result came from our distribution strategy. We identified the top-performing influencer content via organic engagement and amplified it through CTV and BVOD placements.
The Result: The creator-led content achieved a 300% increase in Video Completion Rate (VCR) compared to Kikkoman’s standard brand creative. This proved that audiences are three times more likely to watch an ad to the end when it feels like a native, "person-led" cooking segment rather than a traditional "commercial interrupt."
The Results: 12M Views Across the Funnel
Total Campaigns: 4
Total Views: 12.2M
Influencer Partners: 32 (Celebrity + Foodie Creators)
Efficiency: 300% higher video completion rate on CTV/BVOD vs. brand assets.
The Looksee Difference: We didn't just make ads; we made "Cooking Content." By blurring the lines between influencer storytelling and broadcast media, we helped Kikkoman dominate the digital kitchen, achieving levels of audience retention that traditional TV ads simply couldn't match.
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