Nick Pacelli, head of brand for Canadian record label Salxco and founder of Kindly Agency, agreed. He said most of the great things that happened in this campaign weren’t in a contract or negotiated—they happened organically.

“We didn’t go off a script of contract or deliverables,” he said. “We went off what we were feeling collectively and what was right. What the fans were learning and, honestly, what Doja was doing. She was lighting little forest fires everywhere, and then [Taco Bell] was squirting gasoline on it, and these things were ripping, and if it was hitting we would lean in and more, and if it wasn’t we moved on to the next part of the narrative.”

Playing the villain

Gordan Dillard, co-founder of Good Day Mgmt and Doja Cat’s manager, said that leading with authenticity allowed Taco Bell to take bold risks, positioning themselves as the bad guy, a move that further fueled fan interest and engagement.

“It became a villain story almost, and even those who weren’t interested in the actual product became interested in the story,” he said. “So they bought into the story, which in turn bought into both brands and everybody.”