Oreo pushes biggest UK investment in bid to become a ‘playful brand’
Oreo has long been known as a biscuit you can play with due to its “Twist, Lick, Dunk” ritual, a playfulness it now wants to reflect in its marketing communications as it pushes its largest UK investment to date into a bid to bring new customers to the brand and grow the category.
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Oreo is looking to reach younger consumers through its 20-second pop art style “Play with Oreo” spot which airs on TV today (26 January) in the UK as part of a wider global campaign, which will be supported by social, digital, in-store and limited edition packaging and will see activity reach each of the brand’s markets worldwide.
The UK will push £1.5m into the campaign, which looks to evolve the traditional “Twist, Lick, Dunk” ritual associated with the brand by loosening the definition of how consumers can play with an Oreo, in what the brand says is the “biggest thing we’ve ever done on Oreo in terms of the level of investment”.
Jonathan Holden, marketing manager for Mondelez International’s sweet biscuits brands, told Marketing Week: “There’s so much creativity and so many things people are already doing with Oreo, such as recipes, art and jewellery, so we wanted to start playing with Oreo in a more generic and broad way.
“The one line idea behind it is to move from being a product and brand that you can play with to being a playful brand. It’s a change of tone, behaviour, and mindset, and allows us to play at a more emotional level rather than a pure ritual level.”
Holden says the brand, which is the biggest in the Mondelez business, will also leverage its scale across the globe with the campaign.
“We can get more value and intellectual input from our assets across markets and gain strength from all of the markets activating together,” he says.
He adds that the brand will collaborate with UK “influencers” to bring to life the concept of “creative play” across its social platforms.
The move is part of Oreo’s ongoing mission to develop the brand with younger consumers and ultimately grow the sweet biscuits category, though Holden says it is already “winning” on penetration of younger consumers – 56% of Oreo consumers are under 45 compared to 34% of consumers in the total biscuits category, according to data cited by the brand.
“The reason Oreo wins with younger consumers is it adds an emotional territory to what is normally a functional category,” Holden says.
The brand launched in the UK under Kraft Foods in 2008, but the company’s global snack unit was renamed Mondolez in 2012.
According to EuroMonitor data cited by Mondolez, Oreo was the world’s number one biscuit brand in 2013 and was the top brand for the company.
Nielsen data cited by the brand ending 8 January 2015 showed that Oreo’s value had risen by 19% year on year in the UK, and by 48% in the past two years.