From BLACKPINK to Pokémon: How OREO leverages partnerships in SEA for sweet success

The world of consumer engagement is ever evolving, and sandwich cookie brand OREO has certainly gotten the memo with its many playful and impactful brand partnerships over the last few years. 

Recently, the brand collaborated with Pokémon to create a collectible adventure, fusing the fun and familiarity of the franchise with the brand's iconic cookie. 

In addition, to showcase its understanding of cultural relevance, OREO also collaborated with global icons such as K-pop girl group BLACKPINK and Lady Gaga through partnerships that were playful, fresh and engaging, getting consumers to immerse themselves in the pop culture aspect of it all.

In conversation with Jonathan McCarthy, vice president of marketing at Mondelēz International, Southeast Asia, MARKETING-INTERACTIVE dove into how OREO's strategic partnership exemplifies their approach to staying relevant and connecting with consumers on a deeper level, proving that even in the competitive world of snacks, there's always room for a little more fun. 

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MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: In today's competitive market, how does OREO ensure that its brand activations stand out and resonate with consumers? Are there any innovative strategies or tactics you employ? 

McCarthy: More than just a cookie, OREO is a global cultural icon of playful connections, standing as one of Mondelēz International’s power brands and steadily rising in prominence as a category leader and beloved favourite in Southeast Asia.

To put things into perspective, we made a significant investment of US$23 million in 2022 to expand our OREO cookie production in Cikarang, Indonesia to meet growing demand in the region.

The competitive position OREO enjoys today is an outcome of a disciplined approach in ensuring that everything we do is with our consumers in mind, while staying connected with them.

From turning OREO red for festive occasions to offering limited edition OREO with letters and emojis, our campaigns are developed to form and maintain real playful connections with our consumers. Through this, we continuously gain insights into their evolving preference and behaviours, enabling us to refine our strategies and deliver the right products paired with an exceptional experience for every occasion.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: How does OREO differentiate its partnerships to ensure they capture consumer attention and drive brand affinity?

McCarthy: OREO is an icon because it has always been rooted in and has informed culture. Everyone remembers the ‘Dunk in the Dark’ social post from 2013. Partnerships are an important part of our strategy, and we look for culturally relevant associations that we can bring a playful twist to.

For instance, the OREO x Pokémon collaboration brings together the adventurous world of Pokémon with the playful experience of OREO. We tapped on consumers’ behaviour of collecting hard-to-find Pokémon and mirrored the thrills by getting them to ‘collect all 16 OREO Pokémon cookies’.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: OREO has a long history of creative marketing campaigns. How do you maintain the brand's innovative spirit while also staying true to its core identity?

McCarthy: OREO’s core identity is the very essence of our creative marketing campaigns. In a world where adulthood and our day-to-day tasks can sometimes overshadow joy, playfulness serves as a unifying force. This combined our distinctive assets such as black and white and the iconic “Twist, Lick, Dunk” ritual gives us and our brilliant agency partners extremely fertile ground for creativity.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: How does OREO plan to evolve its brand collaboration strategies in Southeast Asia to stay relevant and innovative, amidst the constantly changing consumer preferences and market dynamics?

McCarthy: That would be telling. Watch this space.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: What are the critical success factors behind driving unique and effective brand partnerships in a crowded market saturated with brand collaborations?

McCarthy: Many brand collaborations may come across as merely combining elements or following trends.

However, true collaboration transcends surface-level associations. It is about crafting authentic experiences that excite people and that they want to get involved in. In a world where everyone is shouting for attention, the brand needs to be useful, an enabler of a tailored experience to create meaningful connections.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: Are there any emerging trends or technologies in the marketing industry that you believe will significantly impact the way OREO approaches brand activations and partnerships in the future?

McCarthy: Leveraging emerging technologies is a great opportunity to further enhance OREO's brand activations and partnerships. The art is leveraging technology as a creative magnifier and enabler of personalised participation.

In fact, the OREO x BLACKPINK collaboration featured a QR code on the limited-edition packaging, where Blinks could receive hyper personalised message video with their names mentioned by one of the BLACKPINK members generated in real-time using AI.

Exciting prospects such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and augmented reality hold immense potential to elevate engagement and enrich immersive play experiences.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: How does OREO identify potential partnership opportunities? What criteria do you consider when selecting partners for brand activations?

McCarthy: We consider partnership opportunities based on the potential impact, engagement, and distinctiveness in line with our brand values as well as cultural relevance. In any partnership, it’s important to understand each individual’s unique strengths and how they can come together to create something more powerful.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: The Pokémon and BLACKPINK collaborations were a huge success and generated a lot of excitement among fans. What inspired OREO to partner with Pokémon and BLACKPINK, and what were the main objectives of this collaboration?

McCarthy: BLACKPINK are one of the world’s foremost music groups and embodies a social and cultural influence spanning fashion, beauty and positive empowerment. Many brands have partnered with BLACKPINK, however in working with the group we saw a real opportunity to do something unique and distinctive. This was a partnership born and created in SEA. OREO is also a global brand, and this gives us the benefit of scale and ability to leverage proven activities from elsewhere.

OREO had also previously partnered with Pokémon in the US and seeing how much that partnership and OREO’s playful twist excited people and knowing how popular Pokémon is in this part of the world, it was a no-brainer for us to leverage the idea with our own twist of Pokémon embossed cookies and a Pikachu-inspired flavour.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: Can you share some key learnings derived from OREO's successful brand collaboration strategies?

McCarthy: Successful collaborations are built on trust, sincerity, and authenticity, where partners are aligned not just in goals, but in their commitment to delivering experiences that truly connect with their audience.

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