A fresh social campaign packed with sizzle and flavor, designed to make anyone hungry for a modern taste of heritage or tamales.

Year
2024-2025

Client
Del Real Foods

My Role

Creative Director, Art

  • Led the creative direction for the brand, building a visual identity that felt modern while staying true to Del Real's heritage.

  • Worked with strategy and copy to develop campaigns rooted in authentic cultural insights and everyday family moments.

  • Designed the visual direction across packaging, digital, social, e-commerce, and campaign assets, creating a consistent look and feel across every touchpoint.

  • Directed photography and food styling shoots to make the product the hero while capturing moments that felt warm, real, and inviting.

  • Explored multiple creative directions and refined the strongest ideas into campaigns that could grow with the brand.

  • Presented work to the client and partnered with production to bring the creative to life from concept through final delivery.

Project Overview & Context

  • The Problem: Del Real Foods is a leader in authentic, heat-and-serve Latino cuisine, yet they operate in a hyper-competitive refrigerated space where they are often viewed as a mere convenience rather than a cultural staple. This identity gap is further widened by a significant phonetic hurdle: consumers frequently mispronounce the brand as 'Del REEL' instead of 'Del Re-AL,' stripping the name of its authentic meaning and creating a disconnect between the product’s true heritage and its public persona. To drive loyalty beyond traditional demographics, we must move the brand into the cultural conversation by reclaiming its name and its 'Real' (True/Royal) roots."

  • The Opportunity: There is a growing demand for "modern heritage" brands, products that offer authentic tradition without the time-intensive prep. By refreshing the brand's visual storytelling to be social-first and vibrant, we can position Del Real Foods as more than a meal; it becomes a gateway to culture, creativity, and community for a new generation of busy, flavor-seeking consumers.

Execution:

I concepted and directed the "Eat Better" campaign to solve two problems at once: showing people how easy the food is to make and fixing that annoying "Del REEL" vs. "Del Re-AL" pronunciation issue.

I leaned into the ASMR trend, creating recipe videos that highlighted the satisfying and easy prep of the products. To make the name stick, every video ended with a rhythmic, whispered "Del Re-AL." It acted like an earworm, using repetition to drill the correct brand name into people's heads while they watched some seriously good looking food.

We were able to create a full :30 second video using the UGC style ASMR videos below.

Visual Refresh

The client wanted to push the product out of the kitchen and into a more modern, elevated space.

To do this, I directed a complete visual rebrand focused on a "Kaleidoscope of Flavor." This concept moved away from standard food shots and into a high-energy, color-forward world that matched the vibrancy of the ingredients.

By using rhythmic editing and bold, modern styling, we repositioned the brand as a premium lifestyle choice that feels as fresh as the food itself.

*Led this shoot from concepting to post-production

Results

  • 10% YOY Sales Increase: The campaign directly contributed to a double-digit boost in year-over-year sales.

  • 4X ROAS: We achieved a 4X Return on Ad Spend for the eCommerce side of the business.

  • Cultural Corrective: By using ASMR-style content and a strategic "sonic signature," we successfully corrected brand pronunciation while moving the product out of the kitchen and into the cultural conversation.