THE REHEAT
Microsoft was seeking to reach Black audiences where they were and make a lasting impression. They needed a way to uplift the community in real ways – not for show, but for good. They identified the right partner in TikTok food critic Keith Lee who brought authenticity, audience, and a real-life problem Microsoft could help solve.
Year
2025
Role
Campaign Creative Director, Video Director, Editor
Timeline
8 Weeks
Connecting with New Audiences
Microsoft had a problem: they struggled to make in-roads with Millenial and Gen Z black audiences. The solution started with food critic Keith Lee, whose reviews had become so influential they were breaking the businesses he tried to help. Dubbed tke "Keith Lee Effect", restaurants he praised would get slammed with customers overnight and some couldn't handle it. A few even closed. In partnership with Microsoft's Multicultural Marketing team, I developed a 3-episode video series, pairing Keith up with restaurants from past reviews to show them how Microsoft 365 Copilot could help manage their sudden success. The content worked: 2.8 million views on Microsoft channels, plus another 4.6 million from Keith and the restaurants. Positive sentiment hit 93%. We'd proven the concept. But now, it was time to run it back.
Decisions That Mattered
The goal? Always be optimizing; always be learning. The social buzz in Season 1 came from local people in each city rallying around "their" restaurant. So for Season 2, I pushed to go all-in on one city: Chicago. Concentrating in a single market would let us tap into a larger, more vocal community instead of splitting attention across three locations. But the real win wasn't the marketing theory. It was what it unlocked in production. With restaurants in multiple cities, we'd never capture the moment the restaurant owners found out Keith was involved on the budget we had. It would've been a phone call, maybe a Teams meeting. By staying in Chicago, we could bring Keith in a day early and surprise them in person, on camera. Those joyful reactions became the opening of every episode. It set the tone, gave us killer teaser content, and made the whole thing feel more authentic. We also moved production inside the actual restaurants instead of renting a commercial kitchen. More texture, more truth. And we coordinated cross-posting across Microsoft, Keith, and the restaurants to consolidate views and juice the algorithm.
The Results
The results were exponential. Season 2 hit 900 million views. Engagement jumped 105% over Season 1, with a 54% increase in saves and shares. We landed 86 pieces of earned media, including Microsoft's first-ever placement on BET. Our primary social channels added 67,000 new followers during the campaign. Same budget. Smarter decisions. Bigger impact.
