Oreo's 100 Days of "TWIST"ory

When it comes to Oreos, a little twist usually reveals a delicious white filling.  Today, it reveals the secret to social media marketing:  relevance.  

Your Cookie Said What?

For the last 100 days – in celebration of Oreo's 100 yummy years in existence – the brand has been serving up wit with current events inspired “ads” via its Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest pages.  Known as The Daily Twist, the campaign has brought Oreo brand into our lives in different and exciting ways.

Brands constantly struggle to keep themselves relevant to consumers, who are bombarded almost every minute with messages that vie for their attention. 

A Slice of Humble Pie

For years advertisers have opted for “slice of life” executions that try to connect with audiences by creating commercials that look and sound like clips right out of their lives.  But, these “slices” are contrived and exaggerated because advertising must advocate for a brand, and focus on persuading us to want to buy that brand. Thus, the brand creates the “life” based on its own objectives. 

What is different about Oreo’s execution is that it flips the funnel.  It accepts the “life” that is happening out there – outside the specifics of consumption of the brand – and places itself into the life that consumers are actually living.

What’s Black and White and Sweet all over?

What makes the end of the NFL referee lock out even sweeter than better officiating and “fair” games?  Envisioning your friendly ref as an Oreo cookie, that’s what!

Football fans everywhere liked this posting because it spoke to something important that was happening in their lives, right now.  I’m guessing a few non-football fans also appreciated Oreo’s timely, lighthearted take on a current events issue that had dominated the news over the last week or so. 

As of today (Monday, October 1, 2012) 31,599 people “liked” the photo; 4,290 “shared” it; and it garnered 507 “comments.”  Not bad for a cookie.

Over, the Rainbow?

The campaign has not been without its controversies.  LGBT consumers and advocates applauded this “twist” while others vowed to never eat an Oreo, ever, again.

Posted on June 25^th in celebration of Gay Pride Month, as of October 1, 2012 this photo garnered 298,022 “likes;” 90,824 “shares;” and 60,521 “comments.”  The brand stood behind its post, stating that the ad was a "fun reflection of our values."

Touchdown? Or, Foul?

It is debatable whether Oreo's call - to step into a hotly debated social issue - was more controversial than say, replacement refs ruling Green Bay's game ending interception a touchdown for Seattle.  Either way, the brand not only proves that controversy breeds engagement, but also that brands may build stronger bonds with consumers by living with them in their worlds, rather than existing solely in the imaginary worlds brands build for themselves, in ads.

Controversial, or not, the "twist" campaign has been deemed a sweet success by the folks at Oreo, with Marketing Director Cindy Chen confirming that "since the first Daily Twist appeared on June 25, through August 20, “‘likes,’ comments and ‘shares’” have increased an average of 110%, rising from 7,000 to 14,500."  In a marketing world where metrics rule - these numbers are sweet indeed. 

The Last Twist

Sadly, the 100 day celebration of 100 sweet years of Oreo is coming to an end - tomorrow, Wednesday, October 2nd.  If you have some time, saunter over to Times Square in NYC.  The brand will be operating out of a 'temporary ad agency' located at 46th and Broadway, near American Eagle Outfitters where it will take crowdsourced ideas from Facebook and Twitter to create - live and on the spot - the last "twist" of the campaign.  According to Brandchannel:

At 12:15 p.m., three finalists will be posted on the American Eagle Outfitters sign and on Facebook and opened for public voting on Facebook and Twitter through 1:45 p.m. with a winner announced by about 2 p.m. 

It will be interesting to see if the "onsite" event can garner as much engagement as the "online" campaign.  We'll have to wait til tomorrow for that "twist."

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You can read more about controversy over brands addressing the LGBT community as a target market HERE.

You can catch up on some of the "twists" you missed these past 100 days HERE.