Oreo: It's a Kooky World

Where else but in the crazy, skew-whiff world of advertising could an annual jamboree promoting sexual tolerance be linked to the history of a popular biscuit? Isobel Roberts takes a look at innovative creative connections and savvy social media use that have, in recent years, transformed the marketing of Oreo from something rather well... crumby, to a cookie-based culture celebrating the wonder of biscuit.

When it comes to running a successful global business, Oreo has pretty much got the cookie market nailed. From its humble beginnings in Nabisco’s Manhattan factory in 1912, Oreo grew to become the bestselling biscuit of the 20th century and has continued its reign into the 21st. Now owned by Mondelez International, the new company housing Kraft’s former snacking and food brands after its demerger last year, you can get your fill of the creme-stuffed chocolate cookie in over 100 different countries, be it Indonesia, the Ukraine or Argentina. With annual global revenue reaching $2 billion, Oreo has conquered emerging markets to become the most popular cookie in China as well as the US, winning international appeal with its playful ‘twist, lick and dunk’ philosophy that’s given millions of children a good excuse to play with their food.

Putting a biscuity twist on things

But, perhaps surprisingly considering its financial success, the brand hasn’t always found itself on the podium at advertising award ceremonies, and before this year Oreo hadn’t won at Cannes Lions since 1998. Yet it occupies a place even more coveted than the top of any awards list, and that’s in its role as a cultural icon. In the US, at least, pairing your glass of milk with a couple of Oreos has become a quintessential childhood experience, and as a brand Oreo has cemented its place in American family life. Coupled with that, the brand has also long championed product innovation and over the years it has delivered a slew of new varieties and ‘in and out’ products to keep consumers engaged – such as the orange creme-filled Halloween edition or the Triple Double Oreo (yes, you read that right; three layers of cookie, one layer of original creme and one layer of chocolate creme).

Reflecting its association with childhood, the bulk of the brand’s advertising has revolved around families sharing the Oreo experience, with the ‘twist, lick and dunk’ line taking centre stage. Last year, however, Mondelez decided to push the advertising in a different direction with online campaign Daily Twist, a move that scored the brand its first haul of Lions for 15 years, including the much-envied Cyber Grand Prix. A multi-partner effort between Draftfcb – Oreo’s long-term agency of record – digital shop 360i, PR firm Weber Shandwick and media agency MediaVest, Daily Twist marked the brand’s 100-year anniversary. In the build up to the triple digit celebration, Draftfcb had created a print campaign paying tribute to some of the world’s greatest achievements over Oreo’s 100-year lifetime, and for Daily Twist the team translated and updated the idea for an online audience.

“We wanted to make the Oreo brand more than just the icon of childlike delight,” says senior art director on the project, Jared Isle. “We wanted to make it part of pop culture. We loved the idea of doing something 100 per cent responsive because it had not been done before for such an expansive amount of time. And on the heels of our History print campaign, which celebrated the past, we wanted to move away from nostalgia and position Oreo as a relevant brand and cultural touch point.”

After setting up an Oreo newsroom, the team spent one hundred days mining the daily news and social media sites to find a topic that they could add Oreo’s playful viewpoint to, and every afternoon a fresh piece of content – designed using the Oreo cookies [see images above and overleaf] – was shared across Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. The campaign kicked off with a splash, unveiling a six-layered, rainbow-coloured cookie to mark Gay Pride, and this bold move from the family brand caught the attention of multiple media outlets. Over the next few months Oreo went on to celebrate everything from the Mars Rover landing, to the release of The Dark Knight Rises, to National High Five Day. An impressive and extensive campaign, the brand’s social media were singled out as the right channel for two reasons. “First, our challenge was to make an old brand more fresh, contemporary and relevant,” says John Campbell, EVP and worldwide account director for Oreo at Draftfcb. “To achieve that we had to be effective in digital. It was the ultimate test for a 100-year-old brand. Second, Facebook provided a captive audience, one that easily digested and readily shared our daily visual news bites.”

Sharing a dunk in the dark

Daily Twist isn’t Oreo’s only social media success story either. Back in February, when a blackout hit the Super Bowl, Oreo and 360i seized the opportunity and quickly sent a tweet featuring the image of an Oreo with the caption ‘You can still dunk in the dark’. A lesson in real-time advertising, it amassed 10,000 retweets and 18,000 likes in the first hour and earned the brand two more Lions at Cannes. Now with more than 34 million Facebook fans, making it currently the sixth most-liked consumer brand on the platform (Coca-Cola is top, with 72 million), social media has become an essential part of this centenarian’s DNA. “Unlike other cookies, eating an Oreo allows you to share an experience with another person,” explains Jill Baskin, senior director of marketing communications at Mondelez, on the brand’s social media outlook. “The act of twisting, licking and dunking enables this shared moment. We know our consumers like sharing so it is only natural that they would be users of social media and that we would utilise social media channels to facilitate conversation with our consumers. We feel it is a natural fit between our message, product and our consumers.”

The controversial deconstruction of Oreo

2013 also marked Oreo’s debut on the big screen at the Super Bowl, as Mondelez drafted in Wieden+Kennedy Portland to take on creative duties for the short-term but high-stakes campaign. Introducing the Cookie vs. Creme idea, in 30-second spot Whisper Fight an argument at a library over which is the best part of an Oreo descends into a comedic brawl, carried out entirely in hushed tones. Featuring director Tom Kuntz’s trademark brand of humour, the end frame then encouraged viewers to choose a side and take to Instagram to tag a photo with #cookiethis or #cremethis. In an artistic twist, 15 artists responded to the images by spending three days building sculptures of the tagged photos using actual Oreo ingredients – either the cookie or the creme, whichever the user had declared their love for.

“We used the game to introduce our Cookie vs. Creme campaign,” explains Janda Lukin, marketing director at Mondelez, “engaging our consumers on which part of an Oreo they love best. We knew that our fans have very strong opinions over their favourite part of an Oreo, and we thought the campaign was a fun way to bring this to life and get our fans involved in the discussion.”

Building on the tongue-in-cheek adversarial theme, a second spot from W+K starred two bearded castaways quarrelling over the cookies or creme debate with imaginary Oreos, while in a follow-up collection of YouTube films the agency recruited four fans and inventors to create hi-tech Oreo ‘separating’ machines. Adding a fresh perspective to the brand’s marketing, Oreo boosted its US reach further by enlisting The Martin Agency to craft an entirely new brand campaign that launched earlier this year. “There was an opportunity to make the brand stand for more than the functional ritual of ‘twist, lick and dunk’,” says global creative director Jorge Calleja. “[Oreo] felt that they were limiting themselves by focusing the majority of their branding effort on moms, when a larger audience has an appreciation of the cookie.”

Growing the cookie culture

The realisation that the cookie could reach a broader market prompted the birth of a new voice for the brand, which The Martin Agency brought to life in a musical campaign based around the concept of Wonderfilled. Kicking off with the catchy Wonderfilled Anthem, a 90-second animated film celebrating sharing, the spot’s soundtrack featured Owl City’s Adam Young reimagining villains such as the Big Bad Wolf doing good after being given an Oreo. Produced in-house by creative team David Muhlenfeld and Magnus Hierta, the creamy colours and bold fonts of the animation matched the playful palette and tone of Oreo’s products. “We started from the insight of how Oreo sees the world – with openness and curiosity, and it brought us to the universal human feeling of wonder,” says Mondelez’s Lukin on the Wonderfilled strategy. “The ability – and desire – to ‘wonder’ is something we all share. But, too often the realities of life prevent us from seeing the world with this view.”

Following on from Anthem, The Martin Agency teamed with young country music artist Kacey Musgraves for Daydream, where she imagines giving an Oreo to a lost love, while the latest iteration features hip-hop artist Chiddy Bang livening up a day at school by handing out the cookies. Turning the Wonderfilled idea into a brand platform, each song begins ‘Wonder if I gave an Oreo to…’ and for Calleja this is a foundation that can now be built on in any number of ways.

Representing emotional values via a chocolate snack

The feel-good, light-hearted spirit also harks back to the tone of Daily Twist and for Draftfcb’s Jared Isle, tapping in to the customer’s emotional attachment has been key for a product with the iconic status of Oreo: “Oreo’s rich heritage and strong connection to consumers and culture make it a rich playground for creative development,” says the art director. “Understanding its consumer relevance led to the realisation that this brand is more than a cookie. It has a place in society and in culture that allows you to aim high. You’re not just selling a tasty treat. You’re representing emotional values.”

While its cultural standing might not have the same legacy in other parts of the globe, Oreo has still proved extremely prosperous in its international expansion, and for Mondelez this achievement lies in the heart of its brand message. “We are so lucky to have a brand that stands for child-like delight and that can enable people to bond over a cookie and milk,” says Baskin. “There is no culture that we have found that does not appreciate the value of seeing the world through the eyes of a child.”

Emphasising its focus on product innovation, Oreo has also learned to respond to local market tastes. The Oreo sugar content had to be toned down for Chinese appetites, while flavours such as Green Tea have been introduced in China and Japan. Oreo wafers that originated in China are now also sold in Australia and Canada, and from the Draftfcb’s standpoint this balance between local and global applies to the advertising too.

“It’s all about staying true to the universal human truth at the heart of the brand, but executing in a way that reflects the local context and culture,” sums up Campbell. “If you don’t get the nuance right you will never evoke a truly emotional response. But the core idea is always the same. For Oreo it’s about liberating the kid inside us all. That’s important the world over.” And if Mondelez and its agencies continue with this winning streak of work, we’re sure there’ll be plenty of Oreo customers raising a glass of milk to that.