Century-old cookie shines in a #Wonderfilled Digital Space

MANILA, Philippines – Mondelez International, owner of the well-known Oreo cookie brand, has embarked on a bold approach, investing manpower and resources towards digital media and online channels to transform a century-old cookie for kids into everybody’s favorite treat. Mondelez Philippines senior brand manager and Oreo brand head Anna Sapitan discussed the brand’s transformation and digital shift in her talk, “From traditional and familiar to modern and millennial: How Oreo shifted market appeal using the digital space,” during the Integrated Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines (IMMAP) Digital Congress.

Digital Shift

Oreos, the iconic cream-filled biscuit sandwich, has been around for more than 100 years. It was born on 1912, on the same year the South Pole was discovered and the Titanic sank. And while this historical snack icon traditionally relied on print – and later on, television – the rise of smartphones, growth of the Web and change in consumer habits has prompted the brand to also look for more innovative ways to reach a diversified audience.

Oreo, the 104-year old brand, began its advertising efforts with simple, black and white, straight-to-the-point print ads, with nothing but the product itself – the Oreo biscuit prominently displayed in the pages of newspapers and magazines. Colored print ads followed until the dawn of television, where Oreo commercials are fondly remembered best: kids twisting and licking the cookie. But now, Oreo no longer identifies itself as a kiddie biscuit. Rather, it is an “age-inclusive” treat, one that caters to all ages: children, young millennials, moms, adults and everyone else.

“Our advertising efforts started in print, then we heavily focused on television. The twist happened when the Internet took off as the new media. Nowadays, digital is equally important,” Sapitan shares. “We embraced digital and incorporated it. The marketing principles remain the same, but we practice it on a multimedia approach, whether on social media posts, online videos, it’s always on.”

Thriving In A #Wonderfilled Digital Space

One of the most active brands in the digital space today, Oreo has been delighting the global audience with engaging social media pages, viral posts and mobile apps. It transformed itself from a kiddie-oriented brand to one that appeals to millennials through the digital space. “We have created curated content for our multimedia platforms. That’s our big shift. We have “Glo-Cal” multimedia campaigns. Because we are a global brand, we leverage our learning from other markets and for our messages to be relevant and interesting, we engage to the local nuances,” she explains.    

With several digital campaigns, Oreo surged ahead, leading in the biscuit category with its “Better Together” promotion and then later, the ‘Wonderfilled’ campaign. Three musical acts – Zee Avi (Malaysia), GAC (Indonesia) and Up Dharma Down (Philippines) – gathered for an epic collaboration. Their music video “Sing with Me” garnered 200,000 reactions, comments and shares; gained over two million views within its first two weeks on YouTube and ultimately reached 5.1M reach and impressions. Oreo today is a digital powerhouse, with 42M followers on Facebook, 15M followers on YouTube, 19M followers on Instagram and 830,000 followers on Twitter.

The key message is clear. For over 100 years, Oreo, the world’s favorite cookie, is delicious and full of wonder. Right now, a series of colorful posts, creative videos and entertaining campaigns in online and social media drive brand awareness into unreached heights – an innovative approach that delivers interesting and absorbing online content straight to an engaged, active, tech-savvy millennial audience. Argie C. Aguja