Gaming Strategy — Lunchables / Kraft Heinz
Lunchables wanted to become the most creative food brand in kids' gaming. The strategy had to win a 10-year-old's attention and a parent's trust at the same time — on platforms that change faster than a school year.
Kids' attention lives in Roblox, Minecraft, and Fortnite, and food brands were rushing in with mixed results. Lunchables' ambition was specific — be the most creative food brand in kids' gaming — with a dual audience that makes every decision harder: the 10-year-old who plays, and the parent who buys.
The work started with a research foundation: how kids actually behave in games, platform audits of Roblox, Minecraft, and Fortnite, and benchmarks of brand activations that worked and flopped — from Froot Loops World to Nikeland. Gaming writes the first draft of history; the audit read it before recommending anything.
The recommendations were refreshingly blunt, and each one saved the client from an expensive default. "Ditch the App" — a branded app is costly, inaccessible, and pulls kids away from where they already are. "Beware the Frenemy" — Roblox's own all-ages ambitions make it a partner and a competitor. "Think All Ages," because kids' games are family games. "Play the Field" and "Partner and Diversify" instead of betting one platform. And "Don't Check The Box" — a token activation reads as a token activation, especially to kids.
Research brief and platform audits. Activation benchmarks. Strategy frameworks built on the Gather → Build → Position → Act process, with the Levels of Play model mapping how deep the brand should go on each platform.