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.

Is This the Year You’ll Finally Update Your Website?

Who besides me has promised that 2021 is the year you will finally create a new website? If so, focus on a simple, stable, mobile-friendly design. Think about your navigation; grouping information so users easily can find what they’re looking for.

Easy ways to add videos to your website

Thanks to YouTube, more than 75% of people now are using videos in their marketing. Videos are a great way to promote a new product, introduce a new member of your team or explain a process that can be confusing. One of my clients is rebranding, and we’re doing YouTube advertising using animated explainer and whiteboard videos. These 60-second animated videos have been very successful–our YouTube campaign has doubled our website traffic. I write the scripts and generally map out storyboards before handing these off to our vendor for development. This campaign is proving to be effective and affordable.

For a quick video fix, I’ve been using an application called Promo.com to make short little promotional videos. It’s easy to use—insert images, choose music, add some text, save and upload. They’re snappy and fun.

Forget sales pages; include informational pages

Build some informational pages where you answer questions that customers might have. FAQs have fallen from favor, but I think they’re staging a comeback. They’re most effective if you focus on answering very specific questions. 

Remember that SEO starts with words

Website optimization is based on keywords—the optimal word here is “words”. You have to have words to let Google do its job. I’m a writer, so I always advocate for more good content for landing pages. Will users read these? Maybe not. But content does two things—it helps with SEO and it provides important information about your products/services. Remember to frontload the content on your pages—the most important information belongs in the first few paragraphs. 

Building backlinks has become an important part of an SEO strategy

Backlinks include Yelp, Facebook, LinkedIn, including LinkedIn’s business page, and/or business directories. Google views links from external sites like a vote of confidence. Ask influencers—those who are well-known and respected in their industry with large social media followings–to recommend you in their posts, blogs, etc. This will drive traffic to your site. Influencer marketing in its purest forms involves a budget and paying for these referrals and links, but I’m doing a more modest form of this for one of my nonprofit clients. We’re working with some of our power partners to reference each other in our blogs and social posts. 

Install Google Analytics to track user response

Install Google Analytics so you can start tracking the effectiveness of your efforts. Be patient—it takes some time for Google to start indexing information on your new website. Benefits are cumulative; the longer a campaigns runs, the more benefits you will see. 

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

Is Facebook Good For The World?

 

Has Facebook Lost Its Way?

Let’s start by giving Facebook credit for its attempt to combat disinformation. But has it done enough? The answer, increasingly, seems to be no. Facebook’s own staff, who have historically been positive about the platform’s impact, are now raising questions about the application’s broader social influence.

According to Buzzfeed, Facebook’s semiannual “Pulse Survey”, taken by nearly 50,000 employees in October, showed workers were losing faith that the company was improving the world. Only 51% of respondents said they believed that Facebook had a positive influence on the world.

Facebook on the wrong side of history

Facebook engineer Ashok Chandwaney quit the company over its failure to address concerns around racism, disinformation and incitements to violence. Other senior Facebook staff left the company over morality concerns and the direction the company is taking. Facebook can be a forum to do good, yet many believe that Facebook has no real interest in cracking down on dangerous and divisive hate speech because it sparks debate and interaction. Engagement is what keeps people coming back, though anger spills over into real-world incendiary incidents.

QAnon: Facebook missed an opportunity to do the right thing

QAnon is a dangerous group of conspiracy peddlers who found a home on Facebook in 2016, and there are millions of members and followers. Experts had long been warning Facebook about the group, yet only last month did they finally take down these pages. There were countless warnings, yet it took four years before Facebook finally acted on this. 

Many recall Zuckerberg’s speech to Georgetown University in October 2019

In this speech, Zuckerberg essentially capitulated, explaining that he was not responsible for monitoring what people were posting on the Facebook platform. “I believe in giving people a voice . . . with all of our individual voices and perspectives, we can bring the world closer together.” Sorry Mark. Incendiary rhetoric and disinformation aren’t bringing the world closer together. They’re tearing the world apart. Engagement seems to drive all major decisions at Facebook, with little regard for values such as honesty, authenticity and contributing to the greater good. Let’s not forget the endless data problems that seem to plague Facebook.

It’s difficult to conclude that Zuckerberg is motivated by anything other than profits. Congress has made lame efforts to regulate these big tech companies. In the case of Facebook, without penalties from enforcement, we’ll have more empty platitudes. In a better time, this might not be necessary. 

We’ve written about Mark Zuckerberg’s cozying up to Donald Trump

Zuckerberg clearly has no interest in being hauled in front of Congress again for long hours of testimony. If forging a relationship with Trump was a path to circumvent that, he was happy to take it. We’re now ushering in a new administration, and our social media companies may be in for more accountability. 

Marketing 2021

Everyone right now seems to be in the process of updating his/her website, including me! This is the perfect time to develop new marketing strategies or start working on a new site. Contact Top of Mind Marketing. Writers and content marketing specialists.

COVID Downtime: A New Website For an Old Client

I’ve been working with a client for nearly ten years, and we’ve taken his old website about as far as it will go. It was built in an ancient program, and we converted it to WordPress eight-plus years ago. There have been a few other Hail Marys along the way. 

Every year we think that this will be “The Year”

Every year we think we’ll be able to build a new website. But we keep getting bumped. The recession killed us. A couple of years ago we came in last behind a monster of an increase in workers comp insurance. Every business owner gets this. This year started out with a bang, but COVID has put a damper on all of our marketing initiatives. Yet we’re actually starting to work on a new website. I’m managing my expectations, but I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to start the new year with a sleek new site.

WordPress brought our site into the 21^st century and made it more accessible

These conversions can work, but the site has remained cantankerous with more than its share of workarounds. My client’s an electrical contractor, so we’ve kept the site updated with fresh contentand images as much as possible. We schedule photoshoots of new projects, and we generally show both before and after images. But it’s challenging. 

Contractors can show off their beautiful cabinets and hardwood floors, their new kitchens and baths. But an electrical contractor? Much more difficult. How do you showcase the wizardry of completely retrofitting the wiring for an older home to accommodate today’s electronics-crazed users so they won’t electrocute themselves? In the early days of LED lighting, I used to point out the unique undercounter or recessed lighting, but now LED is routine.

Look for WordPress themes that are SEO friendly

We’ve selected a WordPress theme that will give us a lot of exposure—today’s themes provide promo modules to highlight company features and/or events as users scroll down the page. They extend the homepage where you can use your keywords. There is a lot of SEO value in these themes. We’re writing case studies of residential and a commercial projects for which we also have good images. We’re rethinking navigation and paying attention to page speed—especially image size. We’ve removed a few old projects that are dated. 

• Images. Those great big graphics that are 5000 pixels? Easily resize to 2000 or less. I generally aim for around 1200. 
• Sliders. Use Less. Or useless. Research shows that people don’t stick around to watch your homepage slide show. Choose one great primary image. Swap it out when you want a change.
• Compress large images with Tinypng. 

My client’s site is 20 years old

I don’t know anyone right now who isn’t in the process of updating his/her website, including me! If COVID’s given you some downtime, this might be the time to start working on a new site. Contact Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and content marketing specialists.

TikTok Steps Up to Protect Users from Body-Shaming

I’ve been fascinated by TikTok, the Chinese-owned video app for which I am so not their demographic. In its relatively short life span TikTok has spurred controversy. In February, the Pentagon banned soldiers from downloading the app. And if you’re not paying attention, TikTok has become a flash point in rising U.S.-China tensions. U.S. politicians worry that parent company ByteDance would hand over American users’ data to Beijing or use the app to influence the 165 million Americans who have downloaded it. 

But here’s what got my attention: TikTok is stepping up

We see countless examples of irresponsible activity and abuse on our social channels. So this is an excellent example of corporate social responsibility, of one Chinese company championing an important cause. 

A recent report from The New York Times suggests that more than a third of TikTok’s U.S. users are aged 14 or younger–an extremely impressionable audience. The TikTok application has filters and editing tools, so users can dramatically alter the videos of themselves that they’re posting. That means their audience may be seeing dramatically enhanced and unrealistic images. And these are what impressionable young women will be comparing themselves to.

TikTok has taken a stand against body shaming

So get this: In the midst of a bitter election, a pandemic and a masked president rushing off to Walter Reed, TikTok has announced that it’s taking new steps to ensure that it’s protecting users from body-shaming and self-esteem issues. It’s placing bans on weight-loss ads and identifying new tools to connect users to professional services that assist with weight issues. Somebody at TikTok understands that food issues can be potentially life threatening. That for too many young women, self-esteem is tied to how they look. To being thin.  

TikTok has updated its ad policies

TikTok is now banning all ads for fasting apps and weight-loss supplements. There are restrictions on ads that “promote a harmful or negative body image” and ads that make exaggerated claims about diet and weight-loss products. 

New policies include:

• Weight management products that can only reach users age 18+.
• Stronger restrictions on weight loss and implied weight loss claims.
• Limiting irresponsible claims made by products that promote weight loss management or control.

Granted, some of these regulations are going to be difficult to implement and will require human interaction. So get this: TikTok is apparently adding 25,000 new staff in the U.S., many of whom may be dedicated to enforcing this new policy. 

Who will win the TikTok sweepstakes? 

Oracle is leading the bid to buy a stake in TikTok. They’re hashing out the deal, which Trump has tentatively endorsed, but resistors include the Chinese government. No one expects this to be confirmed before the November election.

A good time to be thinking about a website

I don’t know anyone right now who isn’t in the process of updating his/her website, including me! If COVID’s given you some downtime, this might be the time to start working on a new site. Contact Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and content marketing specialists.

Big Changes Coming to iPhone Operating System

 

iPhone: Expect sweeping system updates

iPhone users: Get ready for one of their biggest updates ever. Apple’s latest operating system, iOS 14, will be released this fall. Depending on your comfort level, this is either a cause for celebration or deep mourning. I just read through an impressive list of enhancements, and while I suspect that the geekier among us can’t wait to get their hands on the new phone, this may not be so exciting for those with more modest needs–those who simply want to pick up their phones and make a call. 

Be forewarned: The Home screen will be redesigned

This is always a little disorienting, regardless of the benefits, and there will be a learning curve. 

• Artificial intelligence (AI) has played an important role in the new functionality.
• Siri got a whole lot smarter, answering a greater range of questions, now sending audio messages. Apple increased the number of languages that Siri understands, and you can now ask Siri to translate words, phrases, and sentences in more than 65 language pairs. Great if we ever get to travel again. 
• Widgets have been totally redesigned to give you more information at a glance — and now you can add them to your Home Screen. Choose from different sizes and arrange to your liking.
• Look for fun, new Memoji styles and stickers. New age options, face coverings, more than 20 new hair and headwear styles.
• Artificial intelligence teams with the Siri Suggestions widget to surface suggested actions based on your usage patterns. If you listen to a podcast at 8am every morning, you might see the Podcasts widget at that time. 
• Digital car keys lets users unlock or start their car with an iPhone or Apple Watch. Next year, with the U1 chip, the car keys will let us unlock our cars without taking our iPhone out of our pockets or handbags. 
• Look forward to the world’s fastest mobile browser—Safari is apparently 2x faster than Android’s Chrome. 
• App junkies are going to love this one. App Library is a great new feature that displays all of your apps in an easily accessible list that’s similar to that on the Apple Watch. Love this—if you swipe to the end of the App Library view, every app is automatically organized by category: Utilities, Productivity, Education, Creativity, Reference and Reading, Social, Health and Fitness, Lifestyle, Games, etc. 

How to update: iOS14 is in beta right now

It’s rolling out this fall. Update the same way you do system updates now—generally overnight. When available, Go to Settings > General > Software Update > Automatic Updates. 

What to do with inevitable usability questions?

The Apple website is helpful. Key in a questions and get an answer with helpful screenshots. Those who are very brave will muster up the courage to go to their local Genius Bar. But that’s only for the bravest among us. 

A new season

The perfect time to be rethinking your marketing for the COVID era. Contact Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and content marketing specialists.