The Chef Docu-Series: Chipperbec Potatoes

THE SHORT VERSION

Chipperbec partnered with Precision to turn their dormant social media presence into a powerful community-building platform. Through a deliberate campaign-focused approach centered on chef storytelling, we achieved extraordinary results: a viral video series reaching 8+ million views across platforms, exponential follower growth, and tangible business impacts including strengthened partner relationships and new business inquiries.

Precision's community-first marketing approach transformed a seemingly mundane B2B product (potatoes) into something people actually wanted to watch, industry conversations, and meaningful business relationships.

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THE BACKGROUND

The Client

Chipperbec is a mid-market potato supplier specializing in high-quality chipping potatoes specifically designed for fries and chips. Despite offering a superior product that delivers an authentic, "1950s-style" potato taste with fewer additives, Chipperbec struggled against larger, legacy competitors who dominated the market through established relationships and powerful brand names.

The Challenge

Chipperbec faced two primary challenges beyond their limited social media presence:

• Market Perception Issue: As a relative newcomer in a legacy-dominated industry, Chipperbec needed to differentiate its premium product and communicate its unique value proposition: delivering a more natural, nostalgic potato experience.
  
  
• Brand Awareness Gap: While Chipperbec enjoyed strong relationships with existing clients, they lacked broader industry recognition. To fuel growth ambitions (including potential D2C frozen products), they needed to build brand equity and industry awareness.
  
  

Previous Approaches

Like most B2B food suppliers, Chipperbec relied on traditional marketing methods:

• Sales teams and food brokers for direct relationships
• Expensive trade shows and industry events
• Limited digital marketing focused on basic information rather than engagement

These approaches yielded diminishing returns as competitors employed similar tactics, and the significant investment in events often didn't generate proportional awareness. Their social media presence was minimal and lacked strategic direction (

• 0 TikTok followers
• 0 Facebook followers
• 100 YouTube subscribers
• 1,000 Instagram followers

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STRATEGIC APPROACH

Community Impact Model™

Our strategy positioned Chipperbec to advance through all stages of our Community Impact Model™, with special emphasis on the top-of-funnel elements:

• Inspiration: Creating content that would spark conversation about both Chipperbec and culinary practices in general
• Exploration: Educating viewers about potato farming, kitchen techniques, and the quality difference in restaurant ingredients
• Community: Highlighting chef partners to create connections within the culinary industry
• Loyalty: Strengthening relationships with existing partners through collaborative content creation

This approach aligned with our core belief that community-building reigns supreme, particularly for a B2B company seeking to elevate their market position.

Three Content Pillars Strategy

We established three strategic content pillars for Chipperbec:

1. Partner Storytelling: Documenting the stories, techniques, and philosophy of Chipperbec's restaurant and chef partners through mini-documentary series. Crucially, we "strategically peppered in Chipperbec content" rather than making every video overtly promotional, a deliberate choice to build genuine interest.
   
   
2. Education: Creating content that educated viewers on both kitchen and farming aspects of potatoes, from cooking techniques to harvesting methods. This two-pronged approach allowed us to showcase Chipperbec's expertise throughout the supply chain.
   
   
3. Natural & Organic: Highlighting Chipperbec's commitment to more natural potato products that align with the "beef tallow revolution" and nostalgic 1950s-style French fries: a distinctly different approach from the highly processed options dominating the market.
   
   

Campaign-Focused Approach

Rather than viewing social media as a chore, we developed the Chef Docu-Series campaign with distinct content series for each featured partner. This structure allowed us to:

• Create cohesive narrative threads that viewers could follow
• Develop mini-campaigns tailored to each partner's unique strengths
• Balance Chipperbec messaging with valuable chef-focused content
• Generate buzz within the chef community about this unique approach

This campaign-based mindset represented a complete departure from how B2B food suppliers typically approach marketing, positioning Chipperbec as an innovative voice in the industry.

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THE IMPLEMENTATION

Value-First Content Strategy

We always subscribe to a value-first marketing approach. We committed to creating content that served the audience before asking anything in return. Approximately 90-95% of content focused purely on providing value through entertainment and education, with promotional content limited to specific occasions like trade show announcements or new product launches.

For the Chef Docu-Series, we deliberately kept Chipperbec mentions to less than half of the videos in each series, focusing instead on telling authentic chef stories. This counter-intuitive approach created intrigue among viewers: "Why is this potato company creating content this cool?"

Balancing Quality with Authenticity

We struck a careful balance between production quality and raw authenticity:

• 80% of content shot on professional equipment for cinematic quality
• 20% captured on iPhone for mobility in tight kitchen spaces
• Documentary/vlog style that captured the real energy of working kitchens
• On-site, real-time direction that preserved authentic moments while ensuring quality

This approach allowed us to maintain high production values while capturing the genuine intensity and creativity of professional kitchens—an environment that can't be manufactured or staged.

Online to Offline Connection

Our digital content directly strengthened real-world business relationships in multiple ways:

• Strengthened Existing Partnerships: By funding professional content creation for partners, Chipperbec provided tangible value beyond their product.
• Generated Partner Referrals: Multiple chef partners reached out to Chipperbec asking to be featured after seeing the success of others in the series.
• Created Shareable Assets: Partners proudly shared their documentary content with their own networks, extending Chipperbec's reach.

This approach transformed digital content from mere marketing to a valuable relationship-building tool that extended well beyond social platforms.

Target Demographic Strategy

We focused precisely on reaching influential chefs and culinary decision-makers. This intentionality drove all aspects of our content creation, from subject matter to presentation style. When we later expanded to include consumer-oriented "man on the street" content, we created a separate account to maintain this laser focus and prevent algorithm confusion.

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THE IMPACT

Community Depth Indicators

We measured authentic community engagement through:

• Quality comments from culinary professionals discussing techniques
• Extended dialogues about preparation methods and ingredients
• Industry debates (like oil usage duration) occurring organically in comment sections
• Partners reaching out to participate in content series

These indicators show true community formation vs passive viewership.

Performance Metrics (March 2024-March 2025)

*ALL ORGANIC NUMBERS, NO PAID AD SPEND

• TikTok Follower Growth: From 0 to 4.6k 
• Facebook Follower Growth: From 0 to 5k 
• Instagram Follower Growth: From 1k to 2.5k
• YouTube Subscriber Growth: from 100 to 970
• Total Community Growth: 11.9k followers gained
• 8+ Million Views: The deep-fried potato video series reached approximately 6 million cumulative views across platforms (4.7M on TikTok, 2.2M on Instagram, 1.3M on FB, 450K on YouTube)
• 178k Page Visits to IG Page
• 81k Page Visits to FB
• Over 45k Total Interactions on FB/IG (likes, comments, shares, saves)
• 535,027 Video Replays: Indicating high viewer interest and repeat consumption
• 96.5% For You Page Traffic: Nearly all TikTok viewership came from algorithmic discovery rather than existing followers.

Business Outcomes

Beyond metrics, the campaign delivered tangible business results:

• Strengthened Partnership with South Chicago Packing: Two content shoots generated 8+ million views, dramatically raising the profile of both companies
• Partner Inquiries: Multiple existing Chipperbec customers reached out requesting the same documentary treatment
• Anecdotal Business Leads: Partners reported receiving business inquiries after content went viral

Content Performance Analysis

Our highest-performing content types included:

• Kitchen Operations: Real-time footage of working kitchens with chef narration consistently generated strong engagement
• Founding Stories: Partner origin stories created emotional connection and were eagerly shared by featured restaurants
• Technique Demonstrations: Unique preparation methods sparked massive curiosity
• Controversial Industry Topics: Content addressing debated practices (like oil lifespan) generated extensive community discussion

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THE LEARNINGS

Culinary Community Insights

Our work revealed important insights about the chef community:

• The culinary world thrives on differing opinions and techniques
• Chefs eagerly engage with content that respects their expertise
• There's significant appetite for authentic behind-the-scenes content
• Controversy and technique discussions drive meaningful engagement

Content Strategy Validation

The campaign validated key principles of our approach:

• Value-first content dramatically outperforms promotional material
• Focusing on partner stories creates more engagement than product-focused content
• Documentary-style content builds deeper connections than polished commercials
• Algorithmic discovery works exceptionally well for niche, authentic content

Future Directions

Based on our success, we identified opportunities to:

• Extend the strategy to showcase Chipperbec's farming operations
• Develop more educational content about potato varieties and growing techniques
• Create dedicated content series around natural ingredients and seed oil alternatives
• Potentially support future D2C product launches through established community channels

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THE CONCLUSION

Chipperbec

Chipperbec's journey from limited social presence to industry conversation-starter shows the power of intentional, community-driven marketing in B2B contexts. By focusing on chef stories rather than potato promotion, Chipperbec paradoxically achieved greater brand awareness and deeper industry connections than traditional approaches could deliver.

The results extend far beyond metrics, creating a foundation of community and awareness that positions Chipperbec for continued growth in both B2B and potential consumer markets.

Precision

This case study exemplifies Precision's fundamental approach to marketing: creating community rather than chasing transactions. For Chipperbec, this meant:

• Rejecting the industry norms of traditional B2B marketing
• Creating content that feels nothing like what a potato company "should" make
• Leading with value rather than product promotion
• Building relationships through storytelling rather than sales pitches

In an industry dominated by legacy relationships and traditional marketing, Precision helped Chipperbec disrupt expectations and create a distinct market position through strategic, intentional community building.

8. OUR FAVORITE PIECES

1. How Public Landing Preps their Fries (650k views)
2. Deep Frying an entire potato (8m+ views across all platforms)
3. The life cycle of frying oil (90k views)