Brand Community Perspective of Oreo Cookie Case Study Answers must be typed and double spaced. Read CASE STUDY #9Answer the 3 questions at the end of the c

Brand Community Perspective of Oreo Cookie Case Study Answers must be typed and double spaced. Read CASE STUDY #9Answer the 3 questions at the end of the case. Case Study 9
OREO AS A CONSUMER TRIBE
This case focuses on Oreo as an illustration of a company appropriating and applying
the ideas of tribes of consumption and making extensive use of social media to facilitate
and reinforce the sense of tribal connections around the brand. Oreo’s 100th Anniversary
Campaign provides an interesting example of how a company can turn its special day
into reinforcement of bonded loyalty and how to use social media creatively to “build
brand love.”
Background to Case
The Oreo cookie was developed in 1912 in New Jersey by the National Biscuit Company
(Nabisco), and was first known as Oreo Biscuit (this name is still used in Europe).
Nabisco was owned by Kraft Foods from 2007-2012 and is now a subsidiary of Mondelez
International. A chocolate sandwich cookie with a creamy white filling, Oreo is the
world’s best-selling cookie, sold in more than 100 countries. It has become an iconic
symbol of U.S.culture, and its “twist, lick, dunk” ritual resonates with people all over the
world, including Canada, which is among the brand’s top five markets (after the USA,
China, the UK, and Indonesia). In Canada, Oreo is sold under the Christie trademark
instead of Nabisco. Oreo’s Facebook community includes over 42 million people from
more than 200 countries. Oreo’s Facebook page ranks among the top 10 brand pages
(Oreo Fact Sheet, 2017).
The Oreo tribe is as much about adult consumers as it is about children. According
to John Ghingo, the former senior director for Oreo Global, “In today’s hectic world,
people have more responsibilities and pressures than ever before. Despite this, the
simple act of enjoying an Oreo cookie and glass of milk continues to speak to a univer-
sal human truth: inside all of us… there’s a kid that deserves to be set free every once
in a while.”
Oreo’s 100th Anniversary Campaign
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Oreo cookie, a global social media campaign
was devised. Activities across social media platforms were critical to the success of this
campaign. The central campaign was around the 100 consecutive Daily Twists-portraits
created from straws, empty glasses, milk, and Oreo cookies. These were shared over
Facebook, Tumblr, and Pinterest, and through the dedicated Daily Twist website. To
make the 100-year-old cookie relevant, the Daily Twist images reflected pop culture,
trending events, holidays, and major news events. The images also did not shy away
from controversy: to coincide with Gay Pride, Oreo posted an image of a multicoloured
cookie with the message “Proudly Support Love,” which attracted a quarter of a million
“likes” on Facebook. However, this posting divided fans, drawing criticism from Christian
groups. By engaging with the news, Oreo became the news itself, as the creatively exe-
cuted Daily Twists were widely discussed on TV and shared in the media (Figure 9.18).
Another key event was Oreo’s goal to set a Guinness World Record for the most
“likes” on a Facebook post in 24 hours. This event was promoted globally through its
social media platforms and the Oreo website, and was also picked up by various online
media outlets and local press. The Guinness event received 25,000 “likes” in the first
60 seconds of launching publicly and achieved a total of 114,619 “likes.”
Continued
org
JUNE 25 PRIDE
JULY 5 CONGRATULATIONS, SHIN SHINI
Images appear courtesy of Mondelēz International, Inc.
OREA
AUG 14 ELVIS WEEK
SEPT 28 | 17 FLIGHT AROUND THE WORLD
BE
FIGURE 9.18 Some examples of the 100 “Daily Twists” created to
celebrate Oreo’s 100th birthday
A number of activities were organized over the anniversary year. According to
the company, the 100th Anniversary Campaign connected 40 million people world-
wide and attracted 8.5 million Facebook “likes,” and on Twitter the #Oreo Moment
hashtag became a trending topic, with birthday treats reaching nearly 15 million
people.
Tribal Marketing
For Sarah Hofstetter, president of 360i Foods (the digital agency that led the Oreo
campaign), Kraft had to find out how to bring the campaign to centre stage, as people
were eating Oreos across the world but in different social settings: “Brands today need
to act as media companies and invite people to share content… Social media is a con-
versation, not a one-night stand.” Taking a consumer tribes approach is a useful way for
companies to think about how they create connections, and thus bonded loyalty, with
consumers.
According to Cova et al. (2007:21), “… where once tribes were seen as transform-
ative to their members, we are beginning to see how they are transformative to busi-
ness and communicative practices and through them, to society itself.” The challenge
for companies is to understand the dynamics of tribes and to support consumers’ in-
volvement with the tribe, and in so doing align marketing efforts with the tribe’s values.
Central to tribal marketing activities is the use of social media, since this presents a way
for companies to connect with consumers. Figure 9.19 shows a framework for how firms
Action of the firm
Effect of the tribe
Tool 1: Provide information and
social contacts the tribe will be
able to use
Facilitate knowledge and learning
associated with the tribe, building
the “cultural capital of individuals
and the group
Tool 2: Provide social spaces for
consumption, researching,
purchasing, and discussion
Increase individual’s ability to
participate with the tribe and
related consumption
Bonded loyalty created
between the firm
and the tribe
Tool 3: Communicate with chiefs
and use them as a conduit for
reaching the wider tribal community
Affirm the chief’s status and
influence the tribe through an
opinion leader
Tool 4: Provide social spaces, hold
or promote tribal events, and
facilitate online communication
Support tribal socialization
and create a positive association
with the firm
FIGURE 9.19 Building bonded loyalty through a firm’s support of the
tribe (Mitchell and Imrie, 2011)
Source: Reproduced with permission from Emerald Group Publishing Ltd. Permission conveyed through
Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.
can build bonding loyalty through supporting the tribe (Mitchell and Imrie, 2011). The
tribal marketing approach to building loyalty can be used as a way of analyzing Oreo’s
successful campaign (see Table 9.2).
Oreo as a Consumer Tribe
TABLE 9.2 Analysis of the Oreo 100th anniversary campaign
Proposed action of the firm
1. Provide information and social
contacts that the tribe will be
able to use, which can facilitate
knowledge and learning
associated with the tribe,
building the cultural capital of
individuals and the group
2. Provide social spaces for
consumption, researching,
purchasing, and discussion,
increasing the individual’s
ability to participate with the
tribe and related consumption
Examples of Oreo activities to
support the tribe
• The Daily Twists campaign encouraged
interest and engagement with Oreo across
social media platforms. It also built cultural
capital through engagement with wider
sociocultural events at the time.
• Oreo set up a 100th Birthday Facebook page
to provide a focal point for activities and for
information dissemination.
• The active management of Oreo’s Facebook
page offered opportunities for consumers
to connect. For example, the posting “OREO
cookies make every day a little more
attracted 7749 comments.
• The Daily Twists’ tongue-in-cheek graphics
made them ideal for sharing on social media.
Topics in the news and popular culture
resonated with the interests and concerns of
tribe members in a playful way.
• Oreo celebrated fans’ birthdays (“Fan Lisa
T. was born in 1912-the same year Oreo
cookies were introduced. Wish her a special
happy birthday below!”), inviting consumer
participation and showing Oreo cared about
the tribe.
Continued
TABLE 9.2 Continued
Proposed action of the firm
3. Communicate with chiefs
and use them as a conduit
for reaching the wider tribal
community. This affirms the
chief’s status and influences
the tribe through an opinion
leader.
Examples of Oreo activities to
support the tribe
• The main tribe “chief” is the child at the
centre of the campaign message “Celebrate
the kid inside.” The global reach of the
campaign was demonstrated through a
series of commercials, run in 15 countries,
that brought Oreo moments to life by
transforming routine adult activities into
something fun and playful.
• The “Oreo Explanation” ads ran in several
countries and languages, and showed
children-true experts of the “twist, lick,
dunk” ritual- explaining the ritual to their
parents or neighbours.
• For the final Daily Twist advertisement, fans
from around the world were invited to submit
ideas via Oreo’s Twitter and Facebook pages.
• Oreo devised the AmbassadorEO campaign
to communicate with the tribe and promote
their brand propositions and rituals.
• According to Oreo, AmbassadoREO
honourees were chosen in unique ways by
each country. In Ecuador, lucky consumers
who found a “golden ticket” in their package
of Oreo cookies were entered in a raffle for
the chance to represent their country in New
York. In China, AmbassadoREO honourees
had to earn points by completing Oreo
missions throughout the year.
• The AmbassadoREO honourees-brand
evangelists-gathered in New York City to
share their childlike moments. They took an
oath to help Oreo extend its movement and
become part of the mission to “celebrate the
kid inside” when they returned home.
4. Provide social spaces,
hold or promote tribal
events, and facilitate online
communication, which can
support tribal socialization and
create a positive association
with the firm.
Questions
1. Oreo has been presented here as an example of a consumer tribe. Analyze this case
material from (a) a brand community perspective and (b) a subculture of consumption
perspective. What similarities and contrasts can you make between the three perspec-
tives (tribes, brand communities, subcultures of consumption) based on this analysis?
2. Analyze the Oreo case in terms of myths and rituals around consumption. Why are
they important for the brand’s success? Why is its anniversary important?
3. Research what Oreo did after its hundredth anniversary to engage its tribe and to
sustain the brand love. How did its later marketing actions fit into the four tools of
tribal marketing proposed to build bonded loyalty?
Sources: Cova et al. (2007); Elliot (2012); Jacques (2012); MacPherson (2012); Oreo Fact Sheet (2017); PR
Newswire (2012); Shayon (2012).

Purchase answer to see full
attachment