2013 PRISM AWARDS
Date:
Client:
Product:
Category:
Submitted by:
25 January 2013
Kraft Foods South Africa
OREO Cookie
PR on a shoestring
Candice Mullins
Plato Communications cc (Kraft Foods in-house PR department)
Opening statement:
“OREO: Celebrate the kid inside us all”
On the 6th of March 2012,OREO, ‘The World’s Favourite Cookie,’ turned 100 years old. In honour of this
milestone, OREOwas on a global mission to reignite the spirit of childhood by celebrating the kid inside us
all. Kraft Foods internationallyhosted huge campaigns both internally and externally to celebrate the big
day.
However in South Africa, with essentially no budget for any campaign, Plato Communications PR was
briefed to bring the story to life locally, both internally and externally. With no more than R25, 000.00,
Plato Communications successfully ignited internal awareness and accumulatedR340, 356.00(1:1) in PR
value and a ROI of 82:1(1:1 on PR value/spend) via the use of basic, yet effective PR practices and well
thought out planning of resources.
1
*Kraft Foods International has a global pledge to not advertise directly to children under the age of 14. Therefore we needed to ensure messaging
and mediums were focused on moms and not directed at children.
1. Statement of problem/opportunity:
a. Nature of the company:
-
The OREO ‘100th Birthday’ campaignwas run by Plato Communications, in-house PR
consultancy to Kraft Foods SA on behalf of the OREO brand.
-
Kraft Foods Inc. is a global snacks powerhouse with an unrivalled portfolio of brands people
love.As a leader in innovation, brand marketing and sustainability, Kraft Foods Inc. touches
more than a billion people in over 150 countries.
-
Kraft Foods South Africa is recognised as being at the cutting edge of the grocery and
confectionery industry, initiating research and strategies that are used across the global group.
b. The problem:
OREOs 100th Birthday was a massive story for Kraft Foods International, with all regional businesses (in over
200 countries) expected to create awareness of the news locally, as well as celebrate the milestone
internally. Globally, the campaigns were vast in terms of budgets and scales of activity; including massive
Birthday concerts, a Facebook page dedicated to the occasion and millions spent on celebrations around
the world. However, locally the OREO brand’s budgets forachieving the global expectations were
comparatively non-existent. We needed to create news, publicity and celebrations with less than R25
000.00.
The Opportunity:
-
The OREO biscuit is the number one favourite biscuit brand in the world with a strong public
awareness profile and about 25 million Facebook fans globally.OREO is one of the most adored
cookie brands in the world.
-
In March 2012, the brand turned 100 years old and this presented us with a newsworthy story to
disseminate.
-
There were global tool kits and resources which we had access to such as logos and artwork that
would save us budget and a global Facebook page that we could utilise.
-
As Plato was briefed to spread this message, we had the opportunity to use basic and effective
PR principles, practices and our network database to disseminate this message to South Africa
and the Kraft Foods internal group.
2
*Kraft Foods International has a global pledge to not advertise directly to children under the age of 14. Therefore we needed to ensure messaging
and mediums were focused on moms and not directed at children.
Research & Key Insights:
We utilised substantialmarket and consumer research, which was conducted specifically for the brand in
the months previous to the campaign,to highlight some important findings that helped guide our
messaging, strategy and implementation. We observed brand health research (to guide messaging and
strategy) and media consumption research (to guide media selection and focus).
Brand perception and consumption research overview:
- Most consumers spontaneously associate OREO with the “Twist! Lick! Dunk!” consumption ritual.
- OREO, which is part of the ‘Fancy Sweet’ segment, is perceived as a ‘Children’s Brand’ which is niche (3.1%,
1391 tons).
- Although OREO is primarily consumed by children, some adults do indulge in the brand on occasion.
- Most biscuit consumption takes place at home (78%), then next at schools (49%).
- The brand had high brand awareness 78% (driven by advertising), but low trial
27%.
- OREOconsumers arehigher income (White & Indian) with LSM 7-10, 8-12 year old
bias, although consumption is still high in ages 13-15.
- Strong consumption ritual: emotional platform.
- Children have a strong influence on household purchase decisions.
- Children and Adults associate brand with fun ‘light hearted playfulness’.
We also gained insight from the Global Spirit of Childhood
Report1which helped guide our messaging, themes and angles.
1
The Global Spirit of Childhood Report was a survey conducted during a six-week period between November and December of 2011. More than 7,000 parents with children
under the age of 18 participated in this study. Local surveys were conducted via online and in-person interviews in 20 countries and regions, including: Canada, China,
Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United
States and Venezuela. Responses were given as completely agree, somewhat agree, neither agree or disagree, somewhat disagree, and completely disagree.
3
*Kraft Foods International has a global pledge to not advertise directly to children under the age of 14. Therefore we needed to ensure messaging
and mediums were focused on moms and not directed at children.
2. Planning:
The planning process involved a careful understanding of the campaign objectives and available
resources. We utilized what we had learnt from the OREO brand research to create a sound messaging
platform that would resonate with the selected media and consumers to help disseminate this great
story: OREO was turning 100. We needed to constantly keep the budget limitations in mind and cost all
elements prior to implementing any plans.
Objectives& measurability:
#
PR Objective
EXTERNAL
Measurement
1
Create awareness in the public eye for the story
that OREOis turning 100 years old.
Receive valuable exposure and hype in the media.
2
Gain publicity for the brand in general and for the
recent news.
Receive valuable brand mentions in the media.
3
To drive the brand positioning and heritage in all
communicated messaging externally.
Constantly disseminate brand layered communication.
INTERNAL
4
Drive awareness and support from the internal
business for the OREO celebrations.
Successfully communicate the OREO birthday celebration.
5
To drive the brand positioning and heritage in all
communicated messaging internally.
Constantly disseminate brand layered communication.
Our last objective, and challenge, was to achieve the above objective within under R25 000.00.
a. Target market to be reached and actions desired
OREOs core target includes moms with children from the ages of 6-15, in the LSM bracket 7-10.
Thereforfor the external objectives,we aimed to target media that this group would most likely consume
according to media consumption data. For example,day time radio shows, morning breakfast shows and
baking blogs.
For the internal objectives, our target market included all employees that worked on or around the OREO
brand, from the executives at the Kraft Foods Head Office, to the factory workers at the OREO factory,
‘Tunney’. The desired action was for all employees to gain knowledge of the OREOS 100th birthday, build a
stronger link to the brand and engage in celebrations for the brand’sbirthday.
4
*Kraft Foods International has a global pledge to not advertise directly to children under the age of 14. Therefore we needed to ensure messaging
and mediums were focused on moms and not directed at children.
b. Formulation of the message to be communicated
We had three main points from the research that guided our planning in the message formulation:
1.
There was well established brand awareness for OREO in SA (78% brand awareness) including those
who have some personal memory of the biscuit from their childhood, youth or even current lives
(68%) (Neilson brand health reports, 2011). There was a history that people shared with the brand
that we could work with in our communication.
2.
We learnt that most consumers spontaneously associate OREO with the “Twist! Lick! Dunk!”
consumption ritual from previous advertising. We therefore used this ritual in the formation of our
media packs and media engagement plans and communication in order to help guide this message.
3.
The recently released Global Spirit of Childhood Report2 revealed that the majority of parents
surveyed across 20 countries believe today’s kids are growing up quicker than they did in previous
generations and should have more time to just be kids. The report also showed that parents all
around the world long for the carefree fun of their youth. This insight helped us construct an angle,
theme and messaging platform; that there is a kid inside all of us and sometimes we just need to
celebrate that. This theme can be seen throughout our execution and messaging both externally and
internally.
“In today’s hectic world, people have more responsibilities and pressures than
ever before,” said Mike Middleton, Marketing Director, Kraft Foods South
Africa. “Despite this, the simple act of enjoying an OREO cookie and glass of
milk continues to speak to a universal, human truth: inside all of us, whether
grown-up or still growing, there’s a kid that deserves to be set free every once
in a while”.
We subsequently invited all South African fans to join OREO and ‘Celebrate the Kid inside Themselves’, no
matter where they were, or how old they were, to TWIST, LICK AND DUNK theirOREO biscuit on 6th March
2012.
5
*Kraft Foods International has a global pledge to not advertise directly to children under the age of 14. Therefore we needed to ensure messaging
and mediums were focused on moms and not directed at children.
c. Selection of channels and media:
External objectives:
Due to budgets, our media and channel selection needed to be very selective, effective and focused. We
chose to send our press packs to mediapersonnel/teams across all platforms in boththe traditional and
new media spheres. In selection we remained mindful of the brands core target market and their media
consumption habits.
We selected high reach media and those with a clear potential to show interest in our news. We
particularly targeted day time radio talk shows that theMedia Consumption research showed our core
target using.
We also selected two media groups to engage with on a slightly bigger scale than the above, and to spend
a bit more budget on.We selected one high reach television show (Expresso Breakfast Show) and one high
reach radio show (Jacaranda, the Martin Bester Morning Drive Show). Both selections had strong
correlations between their audiences and the OREO brand target market. Both shows aired at times with
high reach, especially to moms that had their children with them at the time. This choice based on the
facts that OREO is consumed by children, who also have a strong influence on purchase behavior. *
Internal objective:
Internal communication included email, newsletters, physical desk drops (party invitations) and a physical
celebration with digital audiovisuals to tell the story of OREOs history and 100thBirthday celebrations.
d. Vehicles to carry the message into the media
For the external media engagement we wanted to send out a press pack that would not only carry a clear
message but also generate interest and conversations about the brands and its birthday. The press packs
could not be expensive to produce due to our low budgets,and we needed to send out as many as possible
to achieve our coverage objectives.
6
*Kraft Foods International has a global pledge to not advertise directly to children under the age of 14. Therefore we needed to ensure messaging
and mediums were focused on moms and not directed at children.
We created mini birthday cake boxes to deliver the message but instead of a cake inside, we placeda box
of OREO cookies. The birthday cake boxes aligned with the birthday theme and small 100 confetti was
used to enforce the 100th birthday message.
Along with the cake boxes we sent press content packs including: a press release relaying the news of
OREO’s 100th Birthday, a fact sheet on the history of OREO and images of the old adverts and packaging.
The aim of the pack was to assist potential coverage and conversations.
For ‘The Expresso Show’ and ‘Jacaranda’ we had branded ice-creamOREOcakes made to carry the message
and tie in the theme. For both shows the cake, along with milk and glasses, OREO balloons and the media
content pack was sent with the intention of the respective teams enjoying on screen or on air, during their
early morning segments.
e. Action taken to consult with management and secure support for the campaign
After brainstorming the ways to achieve our objectives we created a short proposal presentation to
take the OREO client through the plans. It included a detailed costing of every element to justify the
budget spend, after which, the brand team approved the plans. The team was kept abreast of each any
every element in progress thereafter.
7
*Kraft Foods International has a global pledge to not advertise directly to children under the age of 14. Therefore we needed to ensure messaging
and mediums were focused on moms and not directed at children.
3. Execution:
1. MEDIA ENGAGMENT:
a. Plan implementation
The ‘Birthday Box’ press kits, were sent to 80 media including radio (commercial and talk), newspapers
(food and/or lifestyle journalists), and magazines (trade and consumer titles based on media consumption
research). We also sent to selective online mediawhom we thought would enjoy the content. They
included food bloggers, baking bloggers as well as marketing and media sites. The press kit information
was also electronically sent to additional media contacts over and above the 80 press kits.
After delivery the media contacts or their producers were contacted to follow up on the response of
receiving our packs and to enquire if there was any additional information received. From here, we
monitored coverage and exposure received.
For ‘The Expresso Show’ and ‘Jacaranda show’ segments of our media plan, we liaised carefully with our
contact at each station so that they understood exactly what we had planned. The teams (presenters)
were surprised. We ensured the branded balloons that were sent were blown up with helium so they
would be visually appealing on screen and in pictures. We made sure there were champagne glasses and
milk delivered with the OREOs and cake to subtly allude to the crew that they could enjoy the well-known
‘Twist, Lick and Dunk’ ritual, which they did. We also made sure the cakes were branded so that any
element they chose to select to film or capture in pictures carried the OREO branding. This ensured our
precious money spent would pay off.
8
*Kraft Foods International has a global pledge to not advertise directly to children under the age of 14. Therefore we needed to ensure messaging
and mediums were focused on moms and not directed at children.
INTERNAL AWARENESS OBJECTIVES:
b. Plan implementation
In order to meet the objectives regarding internal awareness and support for the OREO 100th Birthday we
choose to remain with the selected theme of “Celebrate the Kid inside you” and so planned a Kiddies
Birthday themed party.
We kicked off communication with a desk drop that included a kiddies-party styled invitation and
cardboard glasses in the shape of a 100 to be worn to the party. We also sent out virtual save-the-date
emails.
9
*Kraft Foods International has a global pledge to not advertise directly to children under the age of 14. Therefore we needed to ensure messaging
and mediums were focused on moms and not directed at children.
With the save-the-date out, we launched an internal competition. In order to save costs the competition
was managed over our weekly e-newsletter – “The Delicious Link” which runs nationally. To help enforce
the theme, employees were asked to submit the answer to the following question “If you could be
carefree as a kid for one day, what would you do?” The competition aimed to get employees thinking
about celebrating the kid inside of them.The winner, whowas announced at the birthday event, wona
R100.00 voucher, and the opportunity to give a children’s home of their choice, 100 toys. This CSI element
drove more enthusiasm to enter.
10
*Kraft Foods International has a global pledge to not advertise directly to children under the age of 14. Therefore we needed to ensure messaging
and mediums were focused on moms and not directed at children.
THE PARTY:
The party, held at the Kraft FoodsHead Office, was planned on an extremely small budget. We had the
theme; ‘Celebrating the kid inside of you’, the campaign message; ‘OREO is turning 100’ and the insight
that people associate OREOs with the ‘Twist, Lick and Dunk’ ritual. We therefore based all event elements
on these factors.
For catering,we arranged twoOREO branded ice-cream cakes, in true kids-party-style, made with Oreos
inside.We had OREObranded cupcakes made which we set out in the shape of 100. We also put out plates
of OREOs as well as glasses of milk to allow employees to enjoy the old ritual of ‘Twist, Lick and Dunk’.
11
*Kraft Foods International has a global pledge to not advertise directly to children under the age of 14. Therefore we needed to ensure messaging
and mediums were focused on moms and not directed at children.
No kids party is complete without games and entertainment. With
the small budget we had left we used what resources we had OREOs, and lots of them, and a well-known and well-loved ritual
of ‘Twist, Lick and Dunk’. We had a ‘guess the number of OREOs in
the jar’ challenge.’ The closest guess won the jar.
We also ran a ‘100 second Twist, Lick and Dunk challenge’ where departmental team representatives had
100 seconds to Twist, Lick and Dunk as many OREOs as possible.
12
*Kraft Foods International has a global pledge to not advertise directly to children under the age of 14. Therefore we needed to ensure messaging
and mediums were focused on moms and not directed at children.
To effectively communicate the message of the OREO100th birthday, as well as illustrate the brands
heritage we created a looping slideshow with the advertising, product packaging and imagery from the
past century. Brand Manager, Khosi Xaba presented on the Brands History and the current 100 birthday
activity from around the globe to entrench the 100 Birthday message.
It was also important that the messaging and celebrations trickled down the entire organization, from the
executives at the Head Office to the factory workers at our Tunney Factory. To ensure this objective was
met we also sent cupcakes and cakes to the Factory on the same day for the workers to join in the
celebrations.
The South African celebrations were captured in images and film and shared with the global team who
ensured celebrations occurred in all 200 countries where Kraft Foods operates on the 6 th March 2012.
4. Evaluation
13
*Kraft Foods International has a global pledge to not advertise directly to children under the age of 14. Therefore we needed to ensure messaging
and mediums were focused on moms and not directed at children.
MEDIA ENGAGMENT:
We successfully achieved the objective of creating hype and buzz within the media about OREOs 100th
birthday. We received R340, 356.00 in AVE value (1:1) from media mentions across all platforms (without
counting social media comments) in just two weeks. With 15 million media impressions and a return on
investment of 82:1 we felt the media engagement was a huge success.
-
Not only did we receive a high quantity of media clips and mentions but they were also very good in
quality. For example radio/TVpresenterdiscussed the facts we had sent them, explored and shared
memories of their childhood and how they would “Twist, Lick and Dunk” or even showed the ritual live.
Coverage received directly dialed up the message of the OREO‘100th birthday’ across print, radio, online
and TV broadcasting. (Coverage received listed in attached)
14
*Kraft Foods International has a global pledge to not advertise directly to children under the age of 14. Therefore we needed to ensure messaging
and mediums were focused on moms and not directed at children.
Many of the radio clippings involved continuedconversations, some even engaging with public call ins who
called in to share their OREO memories. Conversations continued to grow on social platforms including
Twitter and Facebook. Anele from 5FM tweeted “Happy Birthday to OREO” to her 56 000 followers.
INTERNAL AWARENESS & HYPE:
We successfully spread the news aboutOREOs 100th birthday within the organization, Kraft Foods SA –
both at head office and at a factory sites.
We assisted Kraft Foods SA in aligning with, and meeting global objectives to celebrate the brands
birthday.
We created excitement and joy surrounding the brands milestone.
We were successful in spreading a very small budget across two main objectives; media engagement and
internal awareness.
Comments from staff at Kraft Foods:
“I just have to say WELL DONE! I think
the party was amazing; it was great to
have something that was fun and light
hearted. Really well done! Georgina
Harpur, Dentyne Brand Manager”
“Well done on an excellent 100
th
birthday party
celebration as well as all the PR activity – fantastic
effort!
” Mike Middleton, Marketing Director
15
*Kraft Foods International has a global pledge to not advertise directly to children under the age of 14. Therefore we needed to ensure messaging
and mediums were focused on moms and not directed at children.
#
1
Objective
Create awareness in the
public eye for the story that
OREO is turning 100 years
old.
Measurement
Receive valuable
exposure and hype in
the media.
Evaluation
- We created hype and talkabilty across all media
platforms.
- Conversations held positive value for the brand.
- All publicity spread the message about OREOs
100thbirthday.
- Media audiences were aligned with OREOs core
target audience.
- High reach media was targeted and subsequent
coverage received from them.
- Key message penetration – direct mentions of OREOs
100 birthday – were achieved in 100% of the
coverage received for OREO in those two weeks.
- Achieved a AVE value of R340,356.00 for the brand
(R1 021 068.00 (3:1))
- 15 million media impressions
- Return of investment in a two week period was 82:1
2
Gain publicity for the brand
in general and for the recent
news.
Receive valuable brand
mentions in the media.
3
Drive awareness and
support from the internal
business for the OREO
celebrations.
Successfully
communicate the
OREO birthday
celebration.
- We succeeded in creating awareness and support at
Kraft Foods for the brand.
- We created support by employees for the brand
going forward.
- People felt the party was light hearted and fun.
- We entrenched the ‘Twist. Lick. Dunk ritual’.
4
To drive the brand
positioning and heritage in
all communicated
messaging.
Constantly disseminate
brand layered
communication.
- All communication remained true to the OREO brand
and its positioning including keeping communication
aligned with the brand ladder and ‘Twist, Lick and
Dunk’ proposition.
Challenges and learnings:
-
Small budgets were restricting and meant that the planning process for the expenditure needed
to be very well thought out. Although once complete, the budgets helped keep the campaign
focused and selective.
Conclusion:
On the 6th of March 2012, Kraft Foods South Africa joined the world in celebrating a little cookies big day.
The Plato Communications PR team was instrumental in ensuring Kraft Foods SA joined in the global
celebrations to meet international expectations. At the same time Plato Communications also engaged
16
*Kraft Foods International has a global pledge to not advertise directly to children under the age of 14. Therefore we needed to ensure messaging
and mediums were focused on moms and not directed at children.
with the media, igniting awareness, interest and hype in the local press in various platforms to carry the
message to OREO consumers. All of this done using under R25 000.00 as our final budget came in at
R23,115.90
PR on a shoestring? We think so!
17
*Kraft Foods International has a global pledge to not advertise directly to children under the age of 14. Therefore we needed to ensure messaging
and mediums were focused on moms and not directed at children.