The Oreo: Milk's Favorite Cookie

After school, I remember plopping in front of my television with the best relationship in the food industry: Oreos and an ice cold glass of milk. It was impossible for me to have just one Oreo. If I have one, then I can count on eating at least five or six more. What is it about Oreos that makes them so successful? Is it the beautiful chocolate cracker paired with cream stuffing? Or is the emotional nostalgia feeling I get when I think about eating an Oreo?

Last week during class, my professor did an amazing job at keying in how a consumer's senses and emotions play a role in branding. I was blindfolded and told to hold a random product. I instantly knew what the product was. It was the traditional chocolate and cream sandwich cookie, an Oreo. I was not the only person in the class because when we were told to hold the product, more than one person said, "Oh! I know what this is!" How does Oreo do such a great job that consumers can depict their brand name just by the sense of touch? In my opinion, it relates back to emotion. It relates to how we feel about the product, the emotional connection we've had with it in the past that makes us recognize it without even seeing it.

Our next assignment was to fill out a survey depicting the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of an Oreo. I said chocolate, milk, delicious, snack, etc. I understood what the professor was trying to showcase at this moment. Nabisco is Oreo's parent owner and their brand manager has a goal of what he/she wants a consumer to first think of when hearing the word Oreo. In class, we were filling out a survey that the brand manager would use for research. I learned a lot about research, specifically in terms of Simmons data. This is a database in which I have the access of researching who consumes Oreos, what age, what ethnicity, what gender, etc.

Back the emotional appeal of Oreos... I believe that Oreos capture a great sense of nostalgia. Nostalgia is a concept in my marketing tool box that talks about consumers connecting with a memory in the past, preferably a happy memory. For example, if you ever hear a song that brings you back to a happy place and time, you're feeling a sense of nostalgia. I think that Oreos encapsulate nostalgia because I ate Oreos the most frequently when I was a kid. It brings back this happy emotion of being a kid again and having no worries in the world. It was a time of peace and fun, which is exactly what Nabisco's brand manager hope their consumers feel.

Oreos are the leading brand in ready-to-eat cookies, ahead of Chips Ahoy and Little Debbie, because of their success in marketing to consumers. Whether it be the nostalgia effect or the delicious taste, Oreo has been leading the score board for many years and I don't think that plan on stopping anytime soon.