Quarantine restrictions have been eased and we are almost back to the old times, but in a new normal way of doing things. However, memories of hard lockdowns remain.

In the business world, lockdowns were the times when brands explored new digital frontiers that made online engagements with their consumers more meaningful and exciting.

In the case of Potato Corner, the country’s well-loved flavored potato fries, it took advantage of digital technology.

“As we constantly think of new ways to serve our customers here and abroad during these trying times, we also pursue creative strategies to keep them – as any food business should – and hurdle the challenges of the pandemic in a playful and fun way our brand is known for” said Potato Corner Marketing Head Joagui P. Mendoza.

These include producing videos as short as 10 seconds, said Mendoza.

Yes, a lot of things can happen in 10 seconds in the frenetic social media universe.

US-based digital marketing firm LOCALiQ found in a study that every 10 seconds users view 578,000 videos on YouTube, upload 40,000 photos on Facebook, share 11,000 photos and videos on Instagram and send 58,300 tweets on Twitter.

Datareportal’s October 2021 data showed that among the 4.88 billion people who shaped the social media landscape were 89 million Filipino users, who logged in a daily average of four hours and 15 minutes last year.

The internet researcher also revealed that 99.4 percent of Filipinos aged 16 to 64 watched online videos.

While it takes only three seconds to grab a user’s attention, 10 seconds is enough to hook up anyone to a catchy website, a polished advertisement or a compelling video.

Rising to the creative challenge

Among the brands who rose to this creative challenge was Potato Corner, the “world’s favorite flavored fries,” through its three primary social media platforms with over half a million combined followers.

The global Filipino brand created the country’s first-ever digital microvideo series dubbed as a quarantine anthology or “quaranthology,” which captured the interest of its followers for the series’ delightful humor.

Titled “Nakaka—!,” Potato Corner’s pioneering craft ingeniously fused the techniques of story-driven filmmaking with the visually arresting aspects of digital advertising.

Potato Corner thought not only of entertaining its market as the leading french fries franchise in the country, but was also aiming to drive in a novel way consumer enthusiasm for the food industry.

Keeping in mind the 40 million Gen Z-ers burning the net for 10 hours each day, Potato Corner featured five siblings craving for tasty flavors in each 10-second micro-story of the 10-episode quaranthology.

Pioneering the ‘microseries’

Fast-paced and energetic, the pioneering microseries or “shortserye” depicted funny moments that brothers and sisters go through while locked down at home.

The rollercoaster of emotions was captured in the episodes’ themes: nakaka$#@&%!, nakakagutom, nakakatuwa, nakakayamot, nakaka-excite, nakakakilig, nakakainip, nakaka-hyper, nakaka@$#&! and Yes! Nakapag-Potato Corner na!

The homegrown “better with flavor” fries and its creative partner The Jumpcat Experiment tapped five digital celebrities for these engaging shorts.

They were Kumu livestreamer, actor, model and host CJ Reyes; music vlogger and Rouge drummer Gyan Murriel; TikToker Carol Reyes; online game streamer Cher “Cherizawa” Barnacha; and social media artist Steven Ocampo.

Observing health and safety protocols, the production team led by film director Joan Lopez-Flores worked online on the concept and preproduction and casting work.

The team wrapped up a three-day shoot in May and finished postproduction work in June.

The first of five “Nakaka—” teaser GIFs appeared on July 31 and the quaranthology’s episodes began streaming on August 11 on Facebook (PotatoCorner), Instagram (potatocornerph) and YouTube (Potato Corner).

The episodes can be viewed in less than two minutes via bit.ly/PCQuaranthology.

“Hope reigns in every tera combination serving of Potato Corner as we continue to introduce new products, upgrade our digital ordering platforms, whether through our franchisees or third party partners, and keep a robust and fun online presence,” Mendoza concluded.

Potato Corner is present in over 1,000 locations in the country as well as in the U.S., Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.