What kind of Oreo eater are you? Do you love the stuffing most, scraping it off with your teeth and casting the chocolate cookie aside? Or do you need to keep the flavors together and dunk the whole thing in milk to get the most enjoyment? Or are you one of those who finds the filling just a side note, focused more on the cookie crunch?

Mondelez, the company that owns the Oreo brand, is determined to find out, by running a vast integrated marketing campaign designed to get consumers to vote for their favorite style of the popular treat, across a variety of channels. To get things started, it initiated a sweepstakes contest, for a $100,000 prize (as well as smaller prizes, like gift certificates and Oreo-branded gear), which people can enter by voting online. The ballot offers five stuffing choices, ranging from Thins and Originals to Double, Mega, and Most Stuf versions.

At the same time as the contest runs, branded videos on TikTok, the relatively recent and increasingly popular video-sharing site, promote Oreo as a fun and tasty option. Users can vote on this platform too, by including a branded hashtag in their short shared videos.

Although these elements of the campaign are specific to the ongoing debate about how much stuffing is the right amount, they are not the first integrated marketing efforts Oreo has adopted recently. For example, in a partnership with Dunkin’, it created Oreo flavors for donuts and coffees sold in stores. It also gives Alexa owners an option to ask the digital assistant for updates about when new and seasonal cookie flavors will be available.

Thus, even though Oreo remains—after 107 years of existence—the top-selling cookie brand, it also is determined to ensure its relevance and appeal to younger consumers. Notably, an estimated 70 percent of TikTok users are between the ages of 13 and 24 years, making it a highly effective channel for reaching young buyers, whether they love the creamy filling or prefer their cookies crumbly.

Discussion Questions:

1. Is TikTok an effective marketing channel? Why or why not?
2. What other sorts of information can Mondelez gather from consumers’ votes for their favorite style of Oreo?

Source: Robert Williams, “Oreo’s Most Stuf Cookies Return with Pop-Ups, TikTok Challenge,” Marketing Dive, January 14, 2020