Dive Brief:
- Mondelez brand Oreo launched a new global campaign, "Stay Playful," featuring musician Wiz Khalifa, according to details shared with Marketing Dive. The campaign will run across TV, digital and social.
- Khalifa, who recorded an original song for the campaign, and his 5-year-old son Sebastian star in Oreo's new TV ad, which tells the story of a busy dad and his son who mirrors everything he does, making them realize the importance of taking time to "be playful" together. A 30-second version of the campaign will air during the 2019 Grammy Awards on Feb. 10, and Oreo released a 15-second YouTube version.
- Oreo is releasing the full-length song via the Oreo x Wiz Khalifa Limited-Edition Music Box, a miniature record player powered by the brand's cookies. When an Oreo cookie is placed on the turntable, like a record, and the record arm is in place, the song will play. Oreo is giving a way a limited number of the music boxes during the Grammys, and fans can visit Oreo.com for a chance to win.
Dive Insight:
Oreo is celebrating its playful image and urging consumers to take time to enjoy life with its latest campaign. The family-focused, self-care messaging and casting of Wiz Khalifa and his son could help the cookie brand build a following among millennial parents, a demographic that packaged foods brands have somewhat struggled to connect with. Millennials are more likely to embrace mindfulness than older generations and are more concerned with finding balance among family, fun and responsibilities.
By depicting Khalifa caring for and spending quality time with his son, Oreo is the latest brand to portray fatherhood through a modern lens and shun outdated gender stereotypes, something that appeals to younger consumers. Seventy-four percent of millennial fathers think advertisers and marketers are out of touch with modern family dynamics, and 80% think a "real man" is one who's comfortable expressing his feelings, according to Saatchi & Saatchi NY. Procter & Gamble brand Pampers partnered with Grammy winner John Legend in a similar way for its Father's Day marketing last year, which included a video of Legend singing "Stinky Booty," an original song he created for his daughter when changing her diaper.
Releasing the original Wiz Khalifa song via Oreo music box should help drive traffic to the brand's website, where it can gather information about its curious fans. Oreo previously sold similar miniature, cookie-powered turntables on Amazon around the holidays. The boxes included four pre-recorded songs and let users to record a custom message. Quirky, branded merchandise is a tactic more brands are turning to as a way to engage with consumers on social media and test consumer interest in e-commerce.
"Stay Playful" follows other Oreo marketing efforts that show off its lighthearted side. It debuted a digital campaign featuring social media influencers in September that focused on the idea that "Some People'll Do Anything for an Oreo." The campaign featured OreoBrows, showing influencers modeling three-layered eyebrows shaped like the cookie, and a partnership with YouTube stars Slow Mo Guys on a nine-minute video showing the guys running on a treadmill before falling slow motion into a pool of milk. The video was viewed more than 900,000 times over a four-day period after its launch, pointing to the potential reach Oreo could see for its latest campaign.
