Vol. 118 SharkNinja x Reddit: Calling on community 🍦

Case Studied
Sweet engagement 

When brands open the doors for community input, it’s often a singular experience. The community makes their voices heard and the brand acts on specific aspects of the feedback, plain and simple. 

Frito-Lays did this with its annual “Give us a flavor” contest (which is responsible for the wasabi ginger and cheesy garlic bread flavors, among others). Crocs did it when they released limited edition cowboy boots after strong, prolonged advocacy from fans. 

And recently, SharkNinja called on its community via Reddit, only it pushed far past a one-off activation. 

This week, Case Studied explores how SharkNinja built the largest ice cream community on Reddit. 

The Brief

SharkNinja is the global consumer product company, named after its two primary brands: Shark, known for vacuums and home cleaning, and Ninja, which dominates the kitchen appliance space. Its product portfolio spans 35 categories, and includes blenders, air fryers, and grills.

The SharkNinja product at the center of its Reddit campaign is the CREAMi, a machine that lets users make their own ice cream, sorbet, smoothie bowls, and frozen treats at home. The CREAMi has an established following, with users sharing recipes and creations on forums and food communities across the internet.

With the launch of the CREAMi Swirl, a new model in the lineup, SharkNinja sought to generate awareness and drive engagement among an audience already passionate about frozen desserts and at-home cooking. With Reddit being such a community-centric platform, it was a natural fit for the launch campaign. 

The Execution

SharkNinja partnered with Horizon Media and Reddit's in-house creative consultancy, KarmaLab, to develop the CREAMi Swirl campaign. 

Rather than running standard display or video ads, the team built a Reddit-native interactive experience that invited users to co-create an ice cream flavor that would be designated the "Official Ninja Swirl™ Flavor for Reddit."

The experience was built around a quiz that let Redditors contribute their flavor preferences.  Promoted posts from u/NinjaKitchenOfficial ran across Reddit with copy like, "Take this quiz & help craft the Official Ninja Swirl™ Flavor for Reddit to be featured online & on social." The quiz drove participation, and the result was announced back to the community in a follow-up post. 

To maximize reach, the campaign was amplified with a Category Takeover, a Reddit ad product that places a brand as the first advertiser seen across subreddits within a specific category for 24 hours or more. This gave SharkNinja top-of-feed placement, banner visibility, and conversation ad placements across food and cooking communities. That ensured the campaign reached both existing CREAMi fans and newcomers who hadn't yet discovered the product.

Targeting was layered across community, interest, and keyword signals to zero in on Redditors most likely to be interested in at-home frozen treat-making. Meanwhile, the subreddit r/ninjacreami functions as an organic community hub where owners share recipes, troubleshoot settings, and post creations like "Salted Caramel Peanut Butter Pretzel Creami."

Reddit's Marketing Science team was also brought in to measure brand lift throughout the campaign, giving SharkNinja a clear read on how the activation was moving the needle on awareness.

The Results

The CREAMi Swirl campaign generated 4,000 experience completions from the custom interactive quiz asset. As a whole, the campaign delivered a +5 point lift in ad awareness, a meaningful result for a product launch built on a platform not traditionally associated with direct-response performance.

But the headline number came from the community side. The subreddit r/ninjacreami grew from 70 subscribers to over 85,000 during the campaign period, making it the largest ice cream community on Reddit.

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The Takeaways

1)   Activate within the community.

SharkNinja didn't treat Reddit like a billboard. The campaign was built in collaboration with Reddit's own creative consultancy, KarmaLab, specifically to make the experience feel native to the platform. The quiz mechanics and the community-first framing reflected an understanding of how Reddit actually works and what its users care about. 

Consider how you can show up natively within the channels you’re targeting. What kind of content does your audience engage with? How can you add value to the community? The answers to these questions can provide insightful guidance as you build campaigns.

2) Co-creation can turn passive viewers into invested participants.

SharkNinja’s quiz gave Redditors a clear stake in the campaign’s outcome. When the winning flavor was revealed, it was named the community's flavor: the "Official Ninja Swirl™ Flavor for Reddit." That shift in ownership changes how people relate and engage.

If your brand has an enthusiastic customer base, look for ways to give them ownership or creative agency in some way. Whether that's voting, co-designing, or naming, participation can create investment and investment can drive advocacy.

3) Partner with talent that bridges audiences.

The SharkNinja x Reddit campaign had two key elements that played off one another. The custom interactive experience drove participation, while the Category Takeover ensured the experience reached a wide audience. Neither element alone would have produced the same result.

When running a campaign with a community-building goal, think about how paid and organic tactics can reinforce each other. Paid reach can amplify the entry point and community experiences can give people a reason to stay. Designing for both can give your campaigns greater depth and reach.

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