Let the Creators Lead: Chili’s Triple Dipper Campaign Powered by Real-Life Social Stories

The Challenge

Chili's Triple Dipper had gone viral on TikTok in 2024, reigniting Gen Z enthusiasm for the customisable appetiser platter. Entering 2025, the challenge was to sustain that momentum, keep the Triple Dipper top of mind with Gen Z on social media, and achieve a campaign engagement rate of 5.9% or higher, without the energy of the original viral moment doing all the work.

The Strategy

The strategy centred on authentic, platform-native storytelling that reflected how Gen Z actually gathers, jokes, and connects. Nine TikTok creators were given the freedom to lead with natural storytelling and immediate feeling rather than pre-planned corporate messaging. Rather than directing creators towards scripted brand language, the campaign positioned the Triple Dipper within culturally resonant moments, leaning on the creators' own tone and community to drive performance.

The Work

Creators brought the Triple Dipper to life through content built around recognisable social rituals, including roommate date nights and table-side conversations, making the product feel like a natural part of Gen Z's shared experiences rather than an advertised item. The content was designed to be culturally fluent and emotionally resonant, with platform-native formats ensuring it felt native to TikTok rather than imported from a brand brief.

Results

The campaign achieved a 9.02% engagement rate, surpassing the 5.9% target, reached 21.7 million people, and generated 176,133 engagements. The Triple Dipper now accounts for 15% of the brand's total sales, a direct result of its sustained social success.

The Judges' Verdict

Judges were impressed by the smart execution of a campaign that capitalised on an already viral brand moment, with creator selection praised as authentically aligned to both the brand and the brief. The decision to trust creators with genuine creative freedom was highlighted as central to the campaign's performance. A well-crafted influencer campaign that delivered real bottom-line impact.

"Really smart execution to capitalise on an already viral brand moment and work with creators that were an authentic fit for the brand and campaign specifically."

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Interview with Jenny Penich, Chief Revenue Officer, Influencer - Winner of the USPA’s Best Influencer Marketing Partnership Award.

Can you tell me about the category you won in and walk me through your submission?

Jenny Penich: The category that we won in was for the Best Influencer Marketing Partnership — we won with our fantastic partners Chili's, who are part of Brinker International. I think what really makes a programme like Chili's, and ultimately a brand like Chili's, perform so well — not only across social holistically but specifically with creators — is that they really know how to maximise scale, what their brand ethos is, and ultimately lean into creators to do what they do best which is to understand how to connect with their audiences, in a way that feels genuine as well as culturally relevant to truly develop and produce true business outcomes and impact.

So, when brands really know how to lean into the true essence of what creators represent, which is community building and representing a distinct voice across social, it really allows them to have a special place and be able to shine in ways like they did in order to win this award.

Looking back on the submission and the work itself, what set you apart from the other entrants that were vying for gold?

Jenny Penich: What was really interesting and smart about the way that we worked with Chili's on this specific campaign is that the Triple Dipper had been a part of the ethos of Chili's and, frankly, American culture for some time, and they were feeling that momentum happening across social and specifically across TikTok.

I think what some brands can try to do is create something net new off a moment in time that's occurring across social. But what we opted to do with Chili's instead was really double down on the virality that was occurring across TikTok with Triple Dipper and be able to focus on those social moments to drive the narrative forward: why people were going to choose Chili’s in the first place.

So showcasing the true essence of not only the creator archetypes that we were working with, but subsequently what it really meant to dine at Chili's and what ordering the Triple Dipper really represented.

I think when brands stay true to who they are and allow creators to be exactly who they are, that's what really allowed us to stand out against the competition.

Reflecting on the work that went into the submission and the partnership itself, what do you feel most proud of?

Jenny Penich: What we are always most proud of is when brands can truly drive their brand home while allowing creators to do what they do best.

So, if it's someone showcasing eating the Triple Dipper in the restaurant with a group of friends, because that's what they inherently would be showing as a part of their content.  If it's skit-based work, if it's eating in a car, if it's a romantic date night — just the content that truly can reflect how people naturally experience a brand instead of trying to force a scripted brief. That's what really makes our partnership with Chili’s so fantastic. It's also what drives really great output. We saw over a 9% engagement rate across the content that we were producing.

We reached almost 22 million people, and we generated more than 175,000 engagements with this work. And when you really think about driving business outcomes and creators not just being an upper funnel metric, the Triple Dipper now represents 15% of Chili's total sales.

If you think about that in a food category, it really really demonstrates just how creator-led storytelling can contribute to that business growth while also still having a lot of fun along the way.

On that point, looking ahead, what is the future for influencer marketing and the creator economy more broadly?

Jenny Penich: Our position, and the way that we are designed as an agency, is that we see creators sitting at this intersection of culture, community, commerce and technology. Creators are not just a brand awareness play; creators are driving measurable business outcomes.

Now those outcomes and KPIs can vary on a campaign and client-by-client basis, but we absolutely have the methodology to track and measure these campaigns in a successful way.

When you can combine upper funnel and lower funnel metrics and outputs with the types of creators that we are ultimately working with, that truly can drive culture forward, community conversation and ultimately sales and business impact.

That's where we see the future and we feel as though, as an agency, we're really truly sitting at the intersection of all of that.

What is the next chapter for the company itself?

Jenny Penich: We're really doubling down on technology, our marketing science capabilities and the importance of our proprietary data, as well as our partnership data that we receive through being badge partners across all of the major platforms globally.

This really helps not only us but our partners understand what performed, how it performed and ensuring that we're showcasing ourselves as an agency as well as the creators as true strategic collaborators.

​We are sitting in the stage of this intersection of technology; how are we driving outcomes, but still at the same time, and Chili's is so representative of that, how are we still staying true to just having a good time, and showcasing the brand in a really meaningful way that still can sit at that intersection that I've been talking about.