For October's designation as National Sausage Month, Sigma's Zatarain's recruited 11 chef influencers and bloggers to share special football halftime recipes calling for the brand's andouille and Cajun smoked sausages (manufactured through a license from McCormick & Co. and marketed by Sigma-owned Bar-S Foods) on Instagram.

The commissioned influencers included recipe developer Ashley Boyd (@thepinkowlkitchen), who created a creamy, spicy cheese dip made with Zatarain’s smoked sausage; Kansas City culinary photographer and chef Kasim Hardaway (@kasimjhardaway), who made game-day Italian sausage sandwiches with Zatarain’s andouille sausage; and Tim Lee (@tim_vs_food) who cooked a big batch of classic Jambalaya. 

The influencers also directed their Instagram and blog followers to Kroger, Sam’s Club and Walmart stores nationwide for Zatarain’s products.

In addition to the demos and sponsored posts, Zatarain’s also tied in to National Gumbo Day on Oct. 12 by tapping celebrity chef and PBS star Kevin Belton for a smoked sausage and chicken gumbo recipe using the brand’s andouille sausage. 

Zatarain’s promoted its smoked sausages earlier this year for the lead-up to Mardi Gras by teaming up with Kroger for a digital campaign presenting as perfect complements to McCormick & Co.'s Zatarain’s rice and dinner mixes. It also teamed up with Sam’s Club to run digital ads on the retailer’s website, deploy targeted emails to shoppers, and leverage social influencers and targeted mobile ads.