Published by Sue Johns-Chapman
Published Date 08.08.2025 
Quantum share their UK Agency Awards 2025 story.
At Quantum, we’ve grown some of the world’s most ambitious brands by simplifying the complex through our unique blend of psychology, creativity, and innovation. We work with disruptive high-growth lifestyle brands to bring people together for shared moments of connection. Our approach isn’t just about creating campaigns, it’s about understanding why people do what they do, then using those insights to create big ideas that travel through many places.
When cult favourite snack brand Takis approached us to launch their popular ‘Blue Heat’ flavour in the UK, we faced a unique challenge. The brand needed to drive notoriety and intrigue while retaining cultural credibility with uncompromising Gen Z consumers – arguably the most marketing-savvy generation ever.
The retail scarcity of Takis in the UK market could have been seen as a barrier. Instead, we saw it as an opportunity to transform scarcity into social currency. Our strategy was rooted in behavioural psychology: consumers notice the novel but are drawn to the familiar. We needed to find the right balance to both disrupt and convert shoppers along the path to purchase.
Our breakthrough came when we identified the perfect cultural cue: ‘finger dust’. The universally recognised symbol of flavour intensity and satisfaction among snack enthusiasts. This simple insight became the foundation for what would become the UK’s boldest snack activation of the year.
We created “Operation Takis Blue Heat – Anything to get them,” an unforgettable blend of constructive chaos, immersive branding, and digital hype building. The campaign centred around a mysterious branded shipping container designed to drive both in-person engagement and nationwide FOMO.
The campaign unfolded in carefully orchestrated phases:
Phase 1: The Anti-Hero We launched with cryptic videos introducing a central character who had “interrupted the global supply chain” to bring Blue Heat to the UK. These clips hinted at something coming, driving curiosity and speculation.
Phase 2: Dust Sightings Mysterious TikToks and Reels featured blue dust being tracked around the country, with the container being airlifted across the UK, leaving a trail of blue dust in its wake.
Phase 3: Influencer Break-ins We partnered with some of the UK’s most engaging influencers, including Callum and Max, to produce time-pressured videos where they found and attempted to break into containers full of Takis. These videos raised hype and established Blue Heat as the season’s hottest flavour.
Phase 4: The Grand Reveal On March 7th, we revealed the container at London’s Old Spitalfields Market. This striking Takis-branded structure offered the public an immersive sensory overload, with 12,000 samples served and 300,000 engaged minutes at the event.
Throughout the campaign, every piece of content was crafted to look and feel native to each platform, with influencer content boosted for maximum reach.
The Results:
The Takis Blue Heat launch exceeded all expectations:
- 40M+ impressions (vs 32M forecast)
- 4M+ video views
- +12% Ad Recall, +4% Intent uplift
- Snapchat Lens: 2.8M impressions, 27.7k shares, and an interactive experience that brought the container to life nationwide
- TikTok: 17.7M impressions (45% above target), 3M views, and a 19.8% VTR
- Instagram: 12.8M impressions, 760k views, 5.64% VTR, strong for a new platform for the brand
- 12,000 samples served
- 300,000 engaged minutes at the event
Being shortlisted for the UK Agency Awards is a recognition that our approach of turning touchpoints into connections genuinely works.
Anna Draper, Senior Brand Marketing Manager at Grupo Bimbo (Takis), said:
“We were looking to adapt the campaign that the Mexican team had originally developed to launch Blue Heat in their market. So, we went to Quantum, gave them the brief, and they came back with their proposal – revolving around an anti hero who had interrupted the global supply chain and would be bringing Blue Heat to the UK.
One of the best things about working on this campaign was that the experience we ended up with was so similar to the idea and campaign that was presented to us in our first meeting with Quantum. Their strong creative vision, rooted in consumer and cultural insight, meant that the final experience was exactly as promised.
We’ve loved working with Quantum on this campaign. They’ve been a dream partner who quickly understood both our brand and our audience as well as our internal team structure and ways of working.”
Connect with Quantum
Website: https://www.wearequantum.co.uk
