In the marketing circle, if asked which brand's cross-border collaboration reaches the top level, many would mention Oreo. Why Oreo? American poet Maya Angelou once said: "People will forget what you said, forget what you did, but never forget how you made them feel." Consumers buy not just the product itself, but a series of rich experiences derived from it. In the current era, brands with long-term thinking must solve life's problems while soothing people's hearts. Oreo's brand positioning is clear: Oreo ≠ biscuits, Oreo = fun. While continuously delivering emotional value, it has also been practicing this. Two Giants Cross-Border Collaboration Sharpening Brand Characteristics In August, a cross-border collaboration news in the food industry frequently hit the hot search: Oreo and Coca-Cola formed a new partnership, announcing that in September they would launch two exclusive limited-edition products: "Oreo-flavored" Coca-Cola and "Coke-flavored" Oreo. This cross-border cooperation instantly ignited consumer enthusiasm and pursuit. New Distribution has been continuously following this, and now the two global brands have finally "joined forces" offline, officially announcing! On September 4, the "New Partner Fun Pop-up Space" jointly launched by Oreo and Coca-Cola debuted at Shanghai's North Bund. This interactive space formed a "partnership" with Shanghai's iconic "Lujiazui Three-piece Set," complementing each other in the city skyline. Through this fun and interactive experience, Oreo and Coca-Cola officially launched their offline activities in the Chinese market, while celebrating the global release of two exclusive limited-edition products: Oreo Coca-Cola™ Soda-flavored Sandwich Biscuits and [Coca-Cola] New Partner Oreo™ Limited Edition Cola-flavored Soda. The cross-border collaboration between the two globally iconic brands has received continuous praise and rising expectations. On one side is the "King of Biscuits" Oreo, and on the other is the "Beverage Giant" Coca-Cola. They seem like parallel lines with no intersection, but upon closer examination, it is actually a "match made in heaven." Oana Vlad, Global Vice President of Brand Strategy at The Coca-Cola Company, said: The two brands share many similarities. Coca-Cola's philosophy is "Embrace the Moment," while Oreo advocates "Play Together." Our "new partnership" may seem unexpected, but it is actually reasonable. Eugenia Zalis, Vice President of Global Marketing and Brand for Oreo at Mondelēz International, said: Oreo is always committed to inspiring consumer interest in novel ways, and this collaboration further intensifies innovation. The "partnership" between Oreo and [Coca-Cola] will bring our fan communities together in a fun way, highlighting the powerful force of connection and reunion. This collaboration not only enriches Oreo's product line but also amplifies the classic charm of both brands. A relevant person in charge of the Oreo brand emphasized: "This collaboration launches two limited-edition products: [Coca-Cola] New Partner Oreo™ Limited Edition Cola-flavored Soda and Oreo Coca-Cola™ Soda-flavored Sandwich Biscuits. Why two instead of one? Because these two products merge the essence of both brands. We hope to combine the classic flavors of the two brands, bringing classic tastes to fans of both brands, achieving a 1+1 >2 effect." Indeed, they not only resonate at the same frequency but also achieve mutual success. So when we often mention "cross-border collaboration," what exactly are we crossing? Essentially, it is a form of leveraging. By leveraging the other's strengths, you sharpen your own characteristics, refresh people's perception of your brand, and make the brand fresh again. In this cross-border collaboration, Oreo closely adhered to its brand strategy, like a hammer, driving the "Play Together" brand positioning deeper into consumer minds. Good Products Are Worth Redoing The book "The Experience Economy" mentions: Carefully designing user experience is the soul of all great products! Elevating competition from primary products to differentiated customer experience is the continuous driving force for future value growth! Here, experience is a kind of "emotional resource," so attaching emotional value to products is a breakthrough and entry point. Oreo hopes consumers treat biscuits as a toy, a form of fun, unleashing entertainment imagination, not just a snack. From a demand perspective, Coca-Cola, as an enduring member of carbonated beverages, has been one of the first choices for consumers seeking pleasure due to the addictive nature of its carbonated taste. During the worst period of Shanghai's pandemic in 2022, many residents used Coca-Cola for bartering, showing its market status. So how does Coca-Cola merge with Oreo? Let's first look at the first product launched this time: "Coke-flavored Oreo Sandwich Biscuits." This biscuit retains Oreo's classic chocolate exterior but cleverly incorporates Coca-Cola's unique flavor; the filling is even more surprising, adding a special ingredient that simulates soda bubbles in addition to the creamy texture, offering consumers an unprecedented taste experience. The other product is "Oreo-flavored Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Soda." This beverage retains Coca-Cola's refreshing and brisk characteristics while cleverly incorporating the mellow taste of Oreo biscuits. For beverage enthusiasts who like to try new things, it is undoubtedly an excellent opportunity for a taste adventure. How to let consumers visually perceive the value of the fusion? The Oreo brand person in charge said: Chinese consumers have a unique "partner" culture, and we hope to use this collaboration to show that two excellent brands can go from Best to Bestie. So Oreo and Coca-Cola, with the concept of "Bestie," continued visual commonality in this collaboration: one side features the classic black Oreo texture, the other features the red Coke bottle clinking texture, with a white filling with red accents in the middle. The iconic combination creates a novel experience. Indeed, Oreo products are delicious, attractive, and fun, with strong social attributes. As the Oreo brand person in charge emphasized: Today's users live under immense uncertainty and anxiety, with collective social anxiety and loneliness intensifying. We hope Oreo is not only a better snack partner for consumers but also, through Oreo's products and brand, helps consumers find their "partners" in life and play together happily. Based on consumers' preferred lifestyles, Oreo redid the product, transforming it from a survival task to a life destination, subtly infiltrating the product into daily life, completing this leap. Therefore, Oreo's cross-border collaboration products truly implemented creativity into the product, not just advertising. A Successful Product Self-Driven Sales Attributes In June, New Distribution conducted a statistic, analyzing the revenue and profit data of 137 listed FMCG companies. In the first quarter of 2024, 82 companies saw revenue growth, 55 saw declines, 89 saw profit growth, and 45 saw profit declines. From the growth rates, there are three phenomena:
First, there is a significant polarization: the good are exceptionally good, and the declining are severely declining; second, revenue increases without profit growth, as most growth is driven by massive investments;
Third, there is a difference between domestic and foreign companies. From the first half data, foreign companies' financial reports are generally better than domestic ones, partly due to brand strength and marketing & management systems, and partly due to continuous insight into the market environment. Clearly, Oreo is the third type. Over the years, Oreo has been adept at deep insights into the market and consumers, continuously innovating to explore consumer needs, co-creating new flavors, products, and categories with consumers, and choosing communication content and interaction methods that consumers enjoy, activating joyful moments and emotional resonance. More importantly, it has expanded the younger consumer base horizontally and vertically. The Oreo brand person in charge stated that the "partnership" between Oreo and Coca-Cola brings together and connects loyal user communities in a very fun way, generating stronger resonance and radiating to more young people. In the past, the brand-consumer relationship was one-way, with brands reaching consumers through advertising and extensive distribution. The challenge now is how brands can create demand on the C-end and achieve the optimal fulfillment model from store to home on the B-end. Oreo, through deep insight into consumption trends and consumer groups, places consumers at the core, truly practices, continuously iterates and innovates, achieving unity of knowledge and action, and establishing a closed-loop "sales-driving model" for the channel. It is understood that these two new products will be available from September in grocery stores, convenience stores, and e-commerce platforms in China, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and other countries. Currently, Oreo is a globally popular biscuit brand, sold in over 100 countries and regions, with annual sales exceeding 60 billion units. China, as Mondelēz's second-largest Oreo market globally, has achieved double-digit compound growth over the past few years. So, taking Oreo as a case, what does a successful product look like? It is a social currency and a product with self-driven sales attributes that can link "people, goods, and places." So, how will the sales of these two cross-border collaboration new products perform? It is worth looking forward to from the channel side. Final Thoughts In the current environment, brand marketing is divided into three levels: First, brands that do public welfare earn user respect, but it is fleeting; second, brands that solve problems make users buy, but they are highly substitutable;
Third, brands that soothe emotions make users love them, and this is lasting. Brands that do public welfare: users respect you but may not buy because you haven't solved their life problems; brands that only help solve problems: users have multiple choices, and factors like price and trends influence decisions; to make users choose you over others, you must provide added value beyond the material. After all, the industry has entered an era of shrinking volume, and the world has entered a "consumption saturation era." Enterprises should rebuild their marketing systems around consumers' future lifestyles and redo their products. Oreo's greatest advantage is turning life problems into brand opportunities, embedding the brand through products, and becoming the backdrop of consumers' lives.