Case study: Oreo’s 100th anniversary

Malaysia - In conjunction with its 100th year anniversary, Oreo launched a year-long campaign to encourage consumers to reach into the child in them and to reinforce the brand's key proposition of sharing 'the gift of bonding'.

Strategy

Before its official celebration, Kraft Malaysia and Ipsos Public Affairs released the "Global Spirit of Childhood Report" in February 2012, which showed that everyone, regardless of age, had a desire to celebrate the kid in them.

This strengthened Oreo's efforts in celebrating the spirit of childhood and to create special moments for families and Oreo fans in Malaysia.

Oreo kicked off its celebration in March by whisking hundreds of Malaysian families on a hot air balloon ride on a day filled with fun activities.

A blue truck called OreoMobile travelled across Malaysia from March until December 2012, giving away one million cookies.

The campaign continued with a talk-show style programme that discussed fatherhood with Malaysian father figures, including stand-up comedian Harith Iskandar; Media Prima Radio Networks' CEO Seeland Paul; early education specialist and co-founder of Smart Reader Dr Richard Ong; and Kraft Foods Malaysia's managing director Sunil Sethi.

On Father's Day, which is Oreo's key marketing platform, Oreo launched the "Ucapkan Untuk Ayah" campaign from June to July, where Malaysians could honour their fathers with heartwarming wishes in the form of a contest.

On social media, the Oreo "Daily Twist" campaign was promoted across Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest as well as the Oreo.com website. The initiative consisted of creative portraits crafted from straws, empty glasses, milk and Oreo cookies.

Creative Oreo images were posted on Pinterest and shared on Facebook for 100 consecutive days to represent current events and national celebrations. In Malaysia, Oreo created its own "twists" celebrating key events in Malaysia such as Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Independence Day, Malaysia Day and the Lantern Festival on Oreo's Facebook page.

In Klang Valley, out-of-home ads were advertised to bring the festivities on-ground with effective creative pieces of the Oreo cookie.

Results

Oreo earned the title of "Most Admired Brand" by BrandLaureate.

Value sales of Oreo in Peninsular Malaysia grew 9.8% from October 2011 to September 2012, according to AC Nielsen retail audit data.

Oreo's Facebook fans grew nearly 30% from January until September 2012 without any media support.

From a PR perspective, the brand saw returns at least four times higher in 2012 compared with 2011.