Oreo looks to build local relevance with Ramadan and Songkran TV spots

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Oreo has unveiled to TV spots to celebrate Ramadan and Songkran in Malaysia and Thailand respectively. Done in collaboration with Publicis Groupe Indonesia, the campaign seeks to build stronger local relevance in those two markets and is supported by digital activation, influencer marketing, and retail promotions.

The Ramadan spot features a grandmother planning to bake a Malaysian dessert "Kek Batik", while her granddaughter suggested baking using Oreo cookies. Although the grandmother was initially reluctant, the pair ended up baking a Oreo cake.

Meanwhile, the spot for Songkran follows a Thai family and sees them bringing the iconic Songkran water fight indoors after the mother suggested to the child to launch a sneak attack on his father. The father retaliates by dunking a Oreo cookie into a cup of milk in front of the child, which resulted in him dropping the water gun in exchange for the Oreo cookie.

On the influencer marketing front, Oreo is collaborating with celebrity chef Anis Nabilah, as well as three celebrities who are Millennial mothers with young children: Amyra Rosli, Elfira Loy, and Betty Rahmad. Publicis Groupe Indonesia's regional ECD Ravi Shanker said the campaign focuses on the festivals through the eyes of a child who look forward to connecting with their families. "Recognising this family members help create the festive spirit sparked by an Oreo, reminding us that families to play together, celebrate together," he said.

Meanwhile, Oreo's spokesperson told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that the campaign is a part of the series of initiatives to unlocking the "Stay playful" purpose in Southeast Asia. As part of the purpose, Oreo has been focused on improving relevance and being more meaningful to the local consumers over the past year.

Understanding that festivals are a key differentiation and localisation opportunity, Oreo's spokesperson said it has been striving to be more relevant among families and the time they spend together during festive seasons. While this is the first time it is activating a campaign for Songkran, Oreo's Ramadan campaign also continues the momentum of its previous Hari Raya campaign last year, where it encouraged consumers to bake with Oreo. To overcome the challenge of standing out from other festive campaigns, which mostly tap into the themes of togetherness and rituals, Oreo said its brand differentiation build on playfulness. "Once we had an idea around how we can integrate Oreo as a catalyst into sparking playfulness, it was clear where we wanted to pitch it and this was the idea we focused on crafting," the spokesperson said.

Nikhil Rao, senior director of marketing for Southeast Asia added on: "Festivals in Southeast Asia are extremely important to families as it is that rare time when the extended family is all together. Given that celebrations are yet curtailed this year, we really needed to remind families that 'the play need not stop' and Oreo can be a catalyst in playful festive moments".

Last July, as part of its "Stay playful" strategy, Oreo launched a regional activation titled “Say it with Oreo”. The activation introduces a limited edition pack with special emoji and alphabet embossed cookies which is available across Southeast Asia markets. Rao said then that the activation allowed the company to make Oreo live its positioning of "Stay Playful" as people could literally play with the cookie.

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