Rekordní prodeje popcornu a distribuce do 5 000 vietnamských večerek.
The management of Hopi Popi together with the ShortPRO team members
About Hopi Popi
Hopi Popi is a Czech brand specializing in popcorn production. In its own factory in Olomouc, it produces various types of savory and sweet popcorn, which it distributes to domestic and international retail chains..
The history of the company began in 1992. The company was founded by Andrew Glueck and Jana Nováková.
How it started.
In 2021, the company management Hopi Popi decided to expand its portfolio and created a new popcorn brand for the Czech market – Cinema Time. This brand quickly established itself on the shelves of retail chains and attracted customer attention.
Motivated by this success, Hopi Popi embarked on the development of a new premium line of popcorn products featuring high quality and attractive design. The new products were packaged in "width packaging" and offered three flavors.
Thanks to a podcast featuring our co-founder David Duc, Hopi Popi learned that there are v České republice existuje přes 5 000 vietnamských večerek. This specific retail segment represents not only a sales channel but also a community space with its own rules and significant consumer power.
The brand decided to take a bold step: to enter the Vietnamese retail market and turn the premium Cinema Time line, specifically the Ham & Cheese flavor, into a popular and in-demand product among Vietnamese convenience store owners. The first major success for the client was getting Cinema Time products listed by Tamda Foods, the largest Vietnamese wholesale company in the Czech Republic.
The main goal was to increase Tamda’s monthly order volume by 200 %. The client understood that achieving this target would require an agency that knows the specifics of the Vietnamese community and can create an authentic and effective communication strategy. That is why they decided to turn to us.
The Challenge.
The task assigned by the client was to effectively introduce the premium Cinema Time popcorns (primarily the Ham & Cheese flavor) to the Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic and create demand among convenience store owners.
Given that the Vietnamese community prefers tried-and-tested products with real market demand, we decided to launch a campaign aimed at raising awareness of the Cinema Time brand while putting the Ham & Cheese popcorn flavor on the radar of both store owners and Generation Z and Alpha.
Our goal was clear: To create such a buzz around the Ham & Cheese popcorn that everyone would want it. This would drive demand for the product and open the door for us to enter Vietnamese convenience stores.
Where can we best reach the young generation? On social media.
We focused on platforms that are natural for younger audiences – primarily Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. The goal was not only to build awareness around the Ham & Cheese popcorn but also to create content that would entertain, encourage sharing, and naturally resonate with their language and communication style. Everything was aimed at making Ham & Cheese popcorn a viral snack.
Strategy.
To achieve the set goal, we designed a multi-phase strategy, combining viral online communication s direct activation at the point of sale.
Phase 1: Timing
The strategy was based on knowledge of the habits of the Vietnamese community. We knew that after the Lunar New Year (late January), many Vietnamese return from Vietnam to the Czech Republic and restock their convenience stores. Therefore, we proposed launching the campaign already in January and peaking it around Valentine's Day , when purchasing appetite is strong and a significant number of store owners are already back in the country.
The client also emphasized that from the very beginning of the campaign, it was essential to communicate the premium flavor Ham & Cheese. Not only because of its bold taste, and higher margin, which is attractive for retailers. Therefore, we decided to build viral interest in the product even before its full market launch, choosing a "demand before supply" strategy.
Phase 2: Ham & Cheese = A Date?
After successfully timing the launch, we shifted our focus in the second phase to creating a strong emotional association between the Ham & Cheese flavor and the idea of going on a date, as the campaign rollout coincided with Valentine's Day. The goal was not only to capture attention, but also to actively engage the target group, which naturally responds to emotional and entertaining marketing narratives. Through this, we aimed to lay the foundation for a new trend and slang within Generation Z and Alpha.
HAM & CHEESE = A DATE
To strengthen this association, we engaged Vietnamese influencers, who were able to naturally connect the themes of convenience stores, relationships, and pop culture. In January 2025, we launched a video campaign featuring creators like Filip Dang and LuckiLinh. The influencers were selected for their influence and ability to reach a young audience.
The influencer videos were set directly in the environment of Vietnamese convenience stores. We created short scenes presenting Ham & Cheese popcorn as a part of romantic moments, helping to link the product to a specific emotional experience.
At the same time, we began building our own Šunka Sýr communication channels. We gradually started publishing content on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, using a strategy of gradual revelation – starting with teasers designed to trigger FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) and spark curiosity, making users wonder: “What is this all about?”
The content was released progressively to build anticipation. It wasn’t until right before Valentine’s Day that we fully revealed the main message of the campaign: Ham & Cheese = A Date?
The videos shared by the influencers performed excellently in terms of numbers – we met the set KPI for both views and engagement.
However we were not fully able to transfer the "Ham & Cheese = A Date" association into everyday slang and drive users to the Ham & Cheese profile at the level we had expected.
However, thanks to the comments under the influencer videos, we discovered something that significantly influenced the next direction of the campaign. What was it? You’ll find out if you keep reading carefully.
Phase 3: Building the Profile
When developing the communication strategy for the Ham & Chesse social media profiles, we searched for a way to tell a story that would be believable, entertaining and at the same time engaging for our target audience. We were inspired by the successful Smashd profile, where the social media manager managed to turn a personal challenge into a compelling marketing campaign. Her story became the central narrative — and that was exactly what we wanted to replicate.
Our aim was to create a strong narrative that would resonate with and motivate our target audience to take action.
The idea came in the form of involving the owners daughters directly in the content. The daughters (Kiki and Julča) appeared in the campaign with a challenge: to prove to their parents that they could turn Cinema Time into a love brand within 60 days. The story naturally evolved into a generational clash and an entertainingly presented entrepreneurial challenge.
Initially, the client had concerns, mainly regarding privacy protection. After several meetings, we obtained approval under the condition that the daughters would not appear directly on the profile. We addressed their presence by using an AI-generated voice, which featured in livestreams and videos.
This unconventional approach turned out to be key in boosting engagement.
The mascots became the central figures of the entire profile.
At the beginning, we worked with two mascots – Hopi and PopiThe name Hopi Popi provided the perfect opportunity to name the main character Popi and the secondary character Hopi. Each mascot was given its own personality and communication stylePopi was sweet, friendly, and open, while Hopi was portrayed as her boyfriend – a bit cheeky but fun.
He appeared mainly during the "Ham & Cheese = A Date?" phase of the campaign. For the next phase, we decided not to include Hopi anymore to strengthen the bond between fans and Popi and to simplify production.
Popi immediately became unmissable thanks to the bucket of popcorn, she constantly wore on her head. This playful exaggeration attracted attention, and already in the first weeks we saw comments like: "What does that mean?" or "Why does she have a bucket on her head?"
The mask element was crucial. We wanted the brand not to be tied to a specific person but to a character that the community could fall in love with. The actress remained anonymous, making her easily replaceable if necessary. People connected with Popi much more than they would have if they had seen her without the mask. Without it, she would have simply appeared as yet another "influencer" trying to sell them something — and that was exactly what we wanted to avoid.
Popi communicated with the community, appeared in stories, livestreams, and comments, and gradually built her own fan base.
And what we repeatedly saw in the comments under the influencer videos were positive reactions to the Ham & Cheese song we had created!
The subtle musical background, which users spontaneously started associating with the mood of the videos, turned into an unexpected hit. It became clear that the Ham & Cheese song had the potential to become the viral element of the entire campaign.
We decided to react and built our own choreography around it, which immediately took off. The dance videos quickly attracted attention and significantly increased engagement on TikTok.
We then boosted the most successful posts with paid promotion, leading to even greater organic and paid reach.
Following the videos featuring the song, we began to notice growing fan engagement. Comments became more frequent, more personal, and gradually included challenges from followers. Fans started writing every day asking when they would get free Ham & Cheese popcorn — kicking off a wave of community activity.
Phase 4: Building the Community
To fully focus on community building, we first had to adjust the original strategy:
We stopped publishing the posts we had originally prepared, as they were no longer effective.
The original posting plan stopped working — the content did not reflect current events and felt outdated. Therefore, we decided to start reacting directly to what was actually happening. We regularly visited Vietnamese convenience stores and brought back authentic content from the field, which significantly boosted community engagement.
We adapted our internal processes.
We began organizing daily stand-ups, weekly brainstorming sessions, and compiling regular reports. These helped us better monitor the progress of the campaign and respond flexibly to what was working and what needed adjustment — for example, when the product sold out. Thanks to this, we were able to quickly shift communication from the Ham & Cheese flavor to the broader "Cheese Season" theme.
Shift in Priorities.
We significantly redirected resources from production toward community management. We began dedicating our full attention to community communication, spending up to five hours of active engagement with the community each day.
Dance and the Ham & Cheese Song as the Language of the Community.
The dance became a key element for communicating with the community. In combination with the song, it allowed us to deliver messages in a simple, entertaining way that felt natural to the audience. This combination quickly became their own language — the community embraced it and spontaneously spread it further.
Launch of the Challenge.
After adjusting the strategy, we started adding trending videos to the Ham & Cheese profile, which helped spark renewed interest in the campaign. On February 13, 2025, we launched a challenge by the daughters of the company's owners, aiming to get our product into more Vietnamese convenience stores.
"Ask your local store if they have Ham & Cheese!" This was the challenge we presented to the community (the Šunka Sýr Army). Followers began actively writing to us about where the popcorn was available and where it was missing.
They even visited stores themselves, asking sellers and owners about the product. The interest became so strong that demand for distribution even started appearing from Slovakia.
Involvement of UGC Creators.
We gradually involved UGC (user-generated content) in the challenge, who produced simple videos responding to the campaign.
One group of UGC creators filmed videos in convenience stores, asking sellers/owners the simple question, "Do you have Ham & Cheese?". The others tested Cinema Time products and shared their impressions with the community through tasting videos.
We then repurposed this content across multiple platforms — YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.
Interestingly, each platform had its own specific target audience. The greatest impact was recorded on YouTube, where videos reached hundreds of thousands of views and significantly boosted overall organic growth.
Community Management: Daily Care for the Community
An integral part of the success of the Cinema Time campaign was the already mentioned community management. Not only did we regularly respond to comments, but we also actively engaged with other profiles, highlighted fans, rewarded them, asked for their opinions, and reacted to their feedback.
For example, based on a fan’s suggestion, we created an informational video in Vietnamese, that the Ham & Cheese Army could show to convenience store owners. Thanks to this video, they could easily explain what Ham & Cheese is and where the product could be found.
We regularly kept the community informed about what was happening — which videos were performing well, where the product had appeared, and what had been achieved thanks to their involvement.
Key moments included the inclusion of Ham & Cheese popcorn in the Kaufland and Penny chains, which we immediately communicated on social media. It wasn’t just about the announcements. We credited the successes to the community. Thanks to their activity, comments, and interest, we were able to expand distribution, and we made sure to let them know.
This approach strengthened the trust and loyalty of the followers — they became not only spectators of the campaign but a part of it. Moreover, their involvement continued to naturally deepen.
We actively encouraged the community to create their own videos under the hashtag #sunkasyrarmy. We paid attention to everyone who participated. We commented on their videos, reposted them, and shared them in stories. For the followers, it was an experience, to interact with a profile they had built a relationship with. Videos were created in the form of tastings, sketches, dances, and visits to Vietnamese convenience stores. Some even created fan pages dedicated to the Ham & Cheese popcorn and the Popi character. We rewarded active fans with free popcorn, which, during the popcorn shortage in the market, generated even greater excitement.
We named the community Ham & Cheese Army, to unify it and communicate directly with them.
It wasn’t just a marketing move. A real bond began to form among the members. In the comments, they advised each other on where to find Cinema Time popcorn. They tagged our profile so we could see and support their content by sharing it.
Without any paid promotion, influencers who were intrigued by the profile spontaneously got involved. During the campaign, other UGC creators began reaching out to us with offers of collaboration. Additionally, members of the Ham & Cheese Army wanted to help with video shooting, editing, social media management, and community management, as they felt part of the community and wanted Kiki and Julča to complete the 60-day challenge.
Livestream.
With the growing engagement of followers, we decided to establish a deeper connection with the community through livestreams.
During the first TikTok stream, we launched a contest to win a one-year supply of popcorn. The contest ran from March 17 to 31. The mechanics were simple: purchase Cinema Time products, take a picture of the receipt, and fill out the form available in the profile bio.
The goal of the contest was not only to motivate followers to make a purchase, but also to gather data on where the popcorn was actually being sold, thus expanding our database of convenience stores. At the same time, it was an important step towards building a stable relationship with the community — we allowed people not only to follow the campaign but also to become co-creators of it.
At that point, we began to observe a significant increase in demand for Ham & Cheese popcorn from the convenience store owners themselves. This positive feedback showed us that our communication strategy was truly resonating with the target audience and that the product was starting to gain a strong position in the market.
Phase 5: Business Activation
Simultaneously with the social media campaign communication towards Vietnamese convenience store ownerswas managed by the company Czech Viet. They were responsible for the sales representative, preparing flyers and operating the Vietnamese-speaking call center.
Czech Viet is a Czech-Vietnamese platform that has been connecting companies and institutions with the Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic and Vietnam since 2007.
It specializes in intercultural communication, content localization, business representation, and marketing campaigns. Thanks to its deep understanding of both cultures and an extensive network of contacts, it helps brands reach the Vietnamese audience effectively, authentically, and with respect.
Czech Viet was co-founded David Duc, who has long been bridging Czech brands with the Vietnamese market and serves as an expert in Czech-Vietnamese communication and community marketing.
According to the original plan, the sales representative was supposed to go into the field in March, where their task was to conduct a survey in more than 100 Vietnamese convenience stores and map the availability of the Cinema Time product. After March, a second survey was planned, to evaluate the campaign's impact and any shifts in the distribution of Cinema Time popcorn.
However, during the campaign, a change occurred.. The sales representative started visiting stores as early as February 5, 2025, due to a modification of the original goal. Instead of mapping availability, he began actively promoting the product directly at the store. His new task was to personally visit up to 200 stores, nearly double the original scope.
This change in business strategy occurred because it was necessary to accelerate the acquisition of new stores to make the product quickly available to the general public.
At the same time, in March, the Vietnamese call center was launched, which contacted clients from the available database and collected feedback from them. This direct channel enabled effective communication even with those sellers the sales representative couldn't personally reach.
The call center played an important role in building trust and supporting distribution outside the online environment.
Campaign Impact.
Gradually, we succeeded in building a strong community, that became an integral part of the entire process. The community not only searched for Cinema Time products in convenience stores but also actively participated in spreading brand awareness.
What were the specific impacts of the campaign on the client's overall business?
Expansion of Distribution to Vietnamese Convenience Stores
Thanks to the successful creation of demand through online channels, we were able to get the product into Vietnamese convenience stores, which was one of the main goals of the campaign. Unfortunately, we do not have specific data on how many stores this impact reached.
Shortage of Ham & Cheese popcorn in Tamda
The demand for the product among convenience store owners was so strong, that the Ham & Cheese popcorn hardly made it to the shelves at Tamda — it was sold out immediately after every restock, repeatedly.
Instead of the expected KPI value of 200 % , we achieved 700 %in the first month. Throughout the 2.5-month campaign, Tamda ordered more than double the volume compared to the entire year of 2024. During this period, Hopi Popi became a key partner for Tamda.
Expansion of Cinema Time Product Range in Retail Chains
A key role in expanding the product range in retail chains was played by the sales representative of Hopi Popi, who actively negotiated new listings, helping the brand expand beyond the Vietnamese community.
Campaign Results in Numbers.
The videos created as part of the campaign were published across all relevant platforms — TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. Overall, our content garnered over 10.2 million views and gained more than 17,500 followers in just 2.5 months of collaboration!
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Conclusion.
The Cinema Time campaign showed us that the key to successfully increasing product availability in Vietnamese convenience stores, strengthening the brand, and generating consumer demand lies in the right timing, authentic community engagement, and the integration of online and offline activities.
Thanks to the quick adaptation of the strategy, active community management, and synergy between marketing and sales activities, we managed to meet and, in some areas, significantly exceed the original goals of the campaign.
As a result, Cinema Time has built a stronger market position, opened the door to retail chains, and solidified its role within the Vietnamese community.
This campaign demonstrates the importance of the ability to respond to real-time feedback, leverage the power of community marketing, and effectively integrate various communication channels within a single campaign.
The collaboration with the Cinema Time brand continues even after the 2.5-month phase of the campaign. We are currently promoting additional popcorn flavors on the profiles and expanding the product portfolio both on social media and in retail distribution.
Jak vidí spolupráci klient?
Andrew Glueck
Hopi Popi, a.s.
Proč jste si vybral pro spolupráci právě ShortPRO?
Vybral jsem si ShortPRO, protože jsem věděl, že mají zkušenosti a znalosti vietnamského sektoru and komunity v České republice. Také měli zkušenosti s cílením na české spotřebitele prostřednictvím sociálních sítí, a to konkrétně pomocí krátkých videí. To byla pro nás „smrtící“ kombinace – mohli jsme komunikovat jak s byznys komunitou (B2B), tak i se samotnými spotřebiteli (B2C). Žádná jiná agentura tyto požadavky nesplňovala.
Později jsem zjistil, že jeden z majitelů ShortPRO (David Duc) vlastní ještě druhou agenturu – Czech Viet. Czech Viet má zkušenosti s nasazením vietnamsky mluvícího obchodního zástupce pro vedení produktů na trh ve večerkách. Takže jsme měli ruce další zbraň. Nejen že jsme měli silné zastoupení na sociálních sítích and our understanding of the Vietnamese community, ale mohli jsme nasadit i the sales representative, který osobně navštěvoval obchody a koordinoval celou kampaň. A právě tato kombinace tří prvků byla klíčem k našemu úspěchu.
Co pro Vás bylo nevětším překvapením?
Musím říct, že jsem byl překvapen, když jsme dostali naši první prezentaci a agentura navrhla, že zavede nový slangový výraz v českém jazyce. A náš popcorn s příchutí šunka sýr, se stane synonymem pro rande. Ambicióznost vytvořit nový výraz v češtině z příchuti popcornu během tří měsíční kampaně na sociálních sítích mi přišla přehnaná. Myslel jsem, že je to šílený nápad, ale protože nejsem Čech, prostě jsem s tím souhlasil.
Kde jste v průběhu kampaně viděl největší problém (ale také příležitost)?
Největší problém a zároveň příležitost přišel z naší strany. Věděli jsme, že nejlepší příchutí popcornu v českých kinech je šunka sýr, ale měli jsme obavy, že náš standardní produkt, který je na trhu od roku 2021, by mohl potřebovat zlepšení.
Takže náš produktový manažer pozval studenty z místního gymnázia, aby udělali ochutnávky a porovnali čerstvý popcorn z kin s naším mikrovlnným popcornem. Požádali jsme studenty, aby ohodnotili příchuť na škále od 1 do 5. A náš mikrovlnný popcorn měl mnohem horší výsledky než popcorn z kina.
Panikařili jsme, ale řekli jsme si, že musíme přijít s lepší příchutí šunka sýr. A tím jsme šokovali tým ShortPRO, protože jsme se domluvili na časovém plánu, a najednou museli celou kampaň odložit. Dali jsme si měsíc na to, abychom prošli dvěma koly vývoje nového produktu, dvě iterace, během nichž jsme pozvali dvě různá gymnázia k nám do Hopi Popi, aby ochutnali novou příchuť. A naštěstí, v druhém kole jsme skončili s produktem, který byl skutečně mnohem lepší a hodnocený mnohem lépe než původní. Kvůli zpoždění jsme museli digitálně tisknout vzorky a ručně plnit stovky vzorků, přes Vánoce, abychom je dostali k influencerům, takže kampaň mohla začít v polovině ledna.
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