Campaign Spotlight: Soy Vay

Clorox’s Soy Vay may be the most popular Asian marinade in the U.S., but that doesn’t mean there aren’t more converts out there wanting to try the yummy flavors. That’s why the brand turned to podcasts.

“While we have a great base of loyal Soy Vay fans—and are the #1 Asian marinade—we’re still very much in a place of introducing people to the brand and our great-tasting sauces and marinades,” said Molly Steinkrauss, associate director of public relations for Clorox.

Soy Vay chose the podcast medium because they knew their target audience listens. Moreover, podcasts are, “a rich and immersive way to reach our consumer,” she explained. “It’s a great storytelling platform to tell our brand story and what we’re about.”

Soy Vay Employs Two Strategies: A Vignette and a Sponsored Episode

Vignette

Soy Vay leaned into the story by giving hosts more time to explore the product, its history, and its flavor. By using a vignette segment—longer and more in-depth than a traditional mid-roll—hosts dug into the sauce’s origin.

On one food podcast, the host explained, “It started with a Jewish boy named Eddie in Palo Alto,” who grew up loving Chinese food. Then, as an adult, he tasted delicious Teriyaki skewers that a Chinese-American colleague brought to a potluck. “The marinade is so good that he persuades her to go into business with him.” 

Soy Vay sauces also taste great and are easy to use. So the host called on Executive Chef Mark Murphy, of Benchmarc Restaurants in New York, to attest. “I like the original a lot,” he said. “It’s what I would call almost a perfectly balanced marinade.”

Turns out, Murphy’s mother-in-law actually turned him on to Soy Vay. He explained that, “she would put it on her chicken and it was always perfect.” This, despite the fact that, “she’s not a very good cook.”

Evaluating this spot, Steinkrauss said, “What we like is the natural and native quality of the integration, as well as great content alignment with the product.”

Sponsored Episode

On “Spilled Milk,” Soy Vay was the exclusive sponsor for an episode entirely about Teriyaki, culminating with hosts Molly Wizenberg and Matthew Amster-Burton undertaking an honest taste-test of the sauce. (Spoiler alert: they went home with a luau in their mouths, a nod to the Island Teriyaki flavor.) One enthusiastic and satisfied listener even commented, “I will also try it, don’t mind a sponsored post one bit from you guys if they are like this.”

When asked about how well the overall campaign performed, Steinkrauss reported, “This is our first time experimenting with podcasts, and we’ve been pleased with the content developed and download results.”

Her biggest takeaway? “It proved our theory that hearing someone endorse your products and say why they’re relevant to them is extremely impactful.”

Her advice for a great podcast campaign is straightforward: “First, ensure you have a good story to tell and strong messaging. Then find the right shows and talent to tell your story.”

Follow those steps and you’ll be saying, “yay!” instead of, “oy, vey!”