How did you come to know about Oreo?
I had written this question on my sticky note and took one (non-guilt) bite of the Oreo cookie. After pondering for a while, I remembered a blurred advertisement where the kid said to his father, Twist Karo, lick Karo or dunk Karo (Twist, Lick, and Dunk!).
Oreo hit the Indian market in 2011, the year I was studying in the 10th grade, and my parents had disconnected the cable connection to limit my entertainment time. Sadly I could not have known much about Oreo till the year 2014.
Then during my first year of Engineering, my best friend had developed a weird habit of eating chocolate cookies at midnight. One night she was out of chocolate cookies and then took me door to door to ask if anyone had the confectionary cookies left. It was then that I came to know about Oreo and tasted it for the first time.
Nonetheless, in the coming years, I made (or assisted) tonnes of Oreo cakes in the hostel and at home during the lockdowns, and so did you. Being the strategy storyteller I am, it made me curious to learn the marketing strategy Oreo adopts that makes us love it!
Oreo’s Marketing strategy of Creating momentum with The FLYWHEEL EFFECT
Oreo has been an established confectionary brand for more than a century. Oreo has sold > 5 bn cookies across 100 countries and has over 85+ different flavors worldwide. From the product catalog of Oreo, one can browse for Chocolate Oreos, Lemon Ice tea Oreo, Organic Oreo, Hot Chicken Wing, and do not forget the Android Oreo and many more such exquisite products.
Most Oreo flavors are made available for a particular country, such as Green tea Oreo was launched in China and Japan; Coconut Delight Oreo was launched in Indonesia. A few Oreo flavors are rolled -out in a limited edition.
For instance, the Game of Thrones Oreo was a limited edition to commemorate the final and 8th season of the series, and the cookie had the GOT’s characters on either side! A few flavors are released in cross-promotions, the latest being The Batman Oreo.
Well, you might wonder Oreo is one of the most renowned brands worldwide, then why 110 years of “rise and shine” Oreo still emphasizes Flavor Innovation?
The answer is – The FLYWHEEL EFFECT!
Let me throw some light on it.
The Flywheel effect is a concept developed in the book Good to Great. No matter how dramatic the result, good-to-great transformations never happen in one fell swoop. In building a great company or social sector enterprise, there is no single defining action, no grand program, no one killer innovation, no solitary lucky break, no miracle moment. Instead, the process resembles relentlessly pushing a giant, heavy flywheel, turn upon turn, building momentum until a point of breakthrough and beyond.
So to say, Oreo keeps building momentum by launching these spontaneous and peculiar flavors.
In December 2020, Nielsen reported that the sales of novelty flavors of Oreo have increased by 12% in the last three years (from 2020), and the sales of classics went up by 22%. What does this imply? Novelty flavors bring consumers back to the classic ones, the plain old oreo. The new flavors, be it seasonal or limited editions, promote the sales of the 110-year-old paterfamilias.
The classic cookies of Oreo are already a hit. With its every launch, Oreo keeps the ball rolling. As part of its marketing strategy, Oreo keeps its consumers engaged and curious about the next flavor to hit the market.
Hitting the right spot with The Oreo Buzz
YOU CAN STILL DUNK IN THE DARK!
Can we say that this whimsical tweet by Oreo during the 30-minute blackout in the 2013 Superbowl was the Moment Marketing 101?
Oreo is not an ordinary cookie; it comes with a playful personality. This sweet-salty cookie takes the pulse of every audience.
How do you ask?
- Constant engagement and relatable content: Undeniably, Oreo has set the bars higher for social media marketing. Boosting its 3.2 million followers on Instagram, close to 1 million followers on Twitter, Oreo is leading the digital era of marketing. Oreo’s quirky, humorous posts and tweets never miss “dunking” the consumer’s attention.
Oreo started a 24 hours scavenger hunt on Twitter during the launch of Lady Gaga’s feel-good-dance album, Chromatica.
Oreo never misses to astound us with its brilliant creativity. Active engagement with the other leading brands and marking worldwide events over social media is next in the playful nature of Oreo. It makes people gush all about Oreo.
Do you remember back in 2020, an asteroid was supposedly going to hit the earth? Oreo took extra precautions steps to save the Oreo for the humankind of future generations. Oreo made a concreted bunker in Svalbard, Norway, to protect the most iconic Oreos and their recipes.
2. Going beyond the relationship of Milk and Oreo: We know Oreo and Milk is the perfect pair. But Oreo has gone beyond that and leaves no stone unturned in building partnerships. Oreo enjoys creating scintillating announcements while revealing its upcoming collaborations with leading brands, celebrities, or even marking an event.
Last year during Tokyo Olympics, Oreo did not miss out to launch a new flavor to honor the Team USA,
And for all the sweet tooth DC fans out there, Oreo has teamed up with Batman and has recently launched a new cookie (you saw that coming). The story has more to offer. Oreo, along with DCM, has given the Rio Cinema of London a Gotham city makeover and renamed the theatre to Oreo Cinema to give out a cinematic experience to its audience.
The hype around Oreo has more to offer. By paying the scarcity marketing card of luxurious brand Supreme, both Oreo and Supreme launched a Supreme Oreo in 2020. The fans could not contain their excitement, so much so that even before the actual launch, the cookies were listed over $10,000 on e-bay.
3. Bewitching Campaigns: Oreo has been sailing the success ship for more than a century. Over the years, Oreo has launched many successful campaigns as part of its marketing strategy, which has swept the audience off its feet and created a lasting impact.
Let us pick one such campaign out of many from the vanity of Oreo – Celebrating 100 years of Oreo. From the campaign – The Daily Twist, for 100 days, Oreo posted artistic, fun, and catching posts on its Facebook page to pay an ode to each day. Even during the pandemic, Oreo launched two successful campaigns – #AtHomewith Oreo and #MakeWayforPlay to embrace the new normal and make people realize to have fun at home and with Oreo.
Oreo in India recently launched a heart-touching campaign – #SayitWithOreo with none other than the famous father-daughter duo – MS Dhoni and Ziva. Captain Cool and Ziva are seen encouraging families to make time for family play.
Also, have you heard about the Oreo Academy? Oreo launched an academy in Spain along with professional bakers. It turns out the academy’s website gained 1.6 million visits and a 35% increase in sales.
Making Oreo available everywhere
In 2022, Oreo will be available both in digital and physical stores. Oreo leverages Mondelez International distribution network to reach out to its customers. Oreo is easily visible and available in retail stores, supermarkets, hypermarkets, airports, cafes, and your nearby local stores as well.
Not just the stores, Android also had v8.1 named Oreo. Now that’s a powerful marketing strategy by Oreo to get an android named after themselves.
Pragmatic Pricing Strategy of Oreo
Believe it or not, Oreo gives you a luxury experience. The cookie is not an ordinary one, it has a fun personality and impactful brand value, and above all, it has loyal consumers.
Oreo has opted for an average to premium pricing policy.
Given Oreo’s presence around the globe, Oreo has to adapt to different markets as per the demographics, such as in India and China; the prices were not inflated initially given the price-sensitive consumer nature. Popularity and price go hand- in hand; once Oreo has enticed the consumers, it flared its price. But given the disruption in supply chain management across the globe, you and I have to pay slightly more for our next box of Oreos.
During Oreo x Pokemon collaboration, the campaign turned into a championship of collectors. How? Well, from the 16 characters, Mew was difficult to catch. So a few lucky finders offered this rarity up to $10000 over e-bay.
Snacking is here to stay. It is up to us how mindfully we are indulging in it; until then, let us keep guessing the next mystery flavor of Oreo.
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