Oreos: The Secret Story Behind Their New Flavors

There used to be a time when we talked a lot about brand. This was before we had more social media platforms than we need and thousands of hot new apps and games. But the importance of brand has never diminished. It’s fundamental to how each of us is perceived in the marketplace. So here’s a pretty great brand story about Oreos, one of America’s favorite snack foods. It transcends demographics, because who doesn’t love Oreos?

There’s a dedicated Oreo team that comes up with limited-edition flavors

You may/not have noticed that Oreos periodically introduces new flavors. Their efforts are made public each time Oreo announces a new variety. There’s a special team with a unified goal: How to continue to excite fans and drive growth. The latest: A salmon-colored cookie with green filling, released with Lady Gaga in honor of her 2020 album, Chromatica. 

There have been 65 flavors since Oreo’s inception more than 100 years ago

Flavors have included Blueberry Pie, Pina Colada, Banana Split, Waffle & Syrup, Crispy Tiramisù and Carrot Cake.

Novelty Oreos sell reasonably well, but the goal is to drive sales back to the classic

According to Nielsen, sales of flavored, seasonal and other novelty Oreos were up more than 12% over the last three years. But get this: Sales really aren’t the point. Novelty Oreos play a more fundamental role: They help drive consumers back to everyone’s favorite, the 108-year-old original Oreo. The new flavors are ads that will remind us how much we love these cookies. In the same period that sales were up 12% for novelty flavors, sales of the classic were up almost 22%, according to Nielsen.

“When we do it well, it drives our classic Oreo cookie, as well as the sales of the limited edition,” said Justin Parnell, senior director of the Oreo brand.

Many consumers, he said, will “pick up that classic Oreo variety that they love, whether it’s the Original, Golden or Double Stuf, in addition to the limited edition.” Certain flavors have become classics, including the Golden; they’ve transcended novelty to become permanent fixtures in the Oreo pantheon.

Oreos works with chefs to identify food trends

Oreo’s innovation dream team includes marketers, product developers, researchers and food scientists, Mr. Parnell said. The team begins each new Oreo ideation period with a suite of 50 flavor options, then narrows them down to a dozen. New flavors are conceived 18-24 months before release. The team works with chefs “to understand what foods are trending.” I just googled and consumers are curious. Nostalgia is back, exotic spicing and international flavors, Immunity-boosting foods are also hot. 

Releases may focus on an event or cause

An example of Oreos doing the right thing: A regular flavored “Triple Stuf” Oreo with tricolor filling, released with the U.S. Olympic Team, continues Oreos’ tradition of celebrating an event or cause. 

It’s always a good time to be rethinking brand and marketing strategies. Contact Top of Mind Marketing. Writers and content marketing specialists.

Nine Easy Ways to Increase Website Traffic

Optimizing your website doesn’t have to be hard. With a little discipline and adherence to ongoing maintenance procedures, you can create an overarching strategy that will help increase your web traffic. 

1. Build an internal linking strategy. Creating links among related topics and pages encourages users to stay on your site and drill down. 
2. Keyword research. Research helps you identify the keywords that appeal to your target audience. There is a number of tools from which to choose. Ubersuggest is very easy to use, and there are third-party applications that come with a pricetag. I like Google’s Keyword Planner because it’s free, comprehensive, and it aligns with Google products. You’ll need to create an AdWords account and a gmail address. 
3. Improve loading speed. We’re an impatient group. Go to Google PageSpeed, key in your website’s url and check your load time. The violators may be your images. They should be in the 1500-2500 pixel range. I generally go for the lower end of this range. I often see people with beasty images that are 5000 pixels. Put these on a diet and your load speed will dramatically increase.
4. Page titles. Keep them short and concise. Google truncates anything more than 70 characters. Big tip: Populate your page title with those keywords for which you want to rank.
5. Identify keyword focus and write metadescriptions for each page. A metadescription should accurately summarize the page’s content. Use keywords and think about the value visitors are getting from your site. 
6. Use alt tags. Alt tags are text fields that you see when you upload images to your site. If an image doesn’t load, the viewer will see the description and understand what the image is contributing to the story. 
7. Check for broken links. It’s frustrating to click on a link and get a 404 error. If the page is no longer available, remove the link. 
8. Identify duplicate content. Bots look for content and index it. When there is duplication, they get confused and can’t identify the best result. The result is a stalemate. If you want to repeat something—which we often do—identify one home, then link to that content.
9. Optimizing for mobile is no longer optional. More than 70% of users are now accessing everything on their phones. Your site should be built in responsive design so that everything adapts. Implications for mobile users:
10. Small screens call for larger text.
11. All content should auto-adapt to the device on which it’s being viewed. No scrolling or manipulating the screen to see the website.
12. A navigation menu with lots of drilldown can be annoying on a mobile device. It takes time for new screens to load, so scrolling can be more efficient. It may require your rethinking your navigation. A simpler schematic with more scrolling may be appropriate.

A new year is the perfect motivation to optimize and update your website presence! Contact me at Top of Mind Marketing. Writers and content marketing specialists.