SENSORY BRANDING : OREO IN INDIAN CONTEXT

1911036 Ashwini Maharana

1911084 Beneta B
1911181 Tarun Kaushik
Group 6
1911337 Jaya G
1911359 Namoona Nayak
1911424 Shiwani Priya
 Objectives
• To study consumer perception of 3 premium biscuit brands – Cadbury's Oreo,
Sunfeast Dark Fantasy and Britannia Pure Magic
• To identify gaps between brand identity and consumer imagery of Oreo.  
• To make recommendations based on the identified gaps.

Methodology
Survey Analysis

Industry Brand identity and Recommendations

Gaps
Objectives Consumer imagery
Analysis

Ad Analysis

Comparison of
Oreo with
other brands
Industry Analysis
•  Parle, Britannia, ITC are major players

• Bisk Farm, Priyagold, Cremica, Anmol are regional players, in addition to a large unorganized market. 

Biscuit Industry • Growth rate of 11% in 2011-12 reduced to 8% in 2014 along with shift in consumer preferences.
in India
• Cookie plus cream segment expected to grow at 17%. 

• Oreo launched in India in March 2011

• Cadbury's Oreo had the fourth largest market share with 6%

• Cadbury provided solid base for successful introduction in India.

• Global positioning of “Twist, lick, dunk”. Oreo has enigmatic look of America’s cookie and inspired by
western tastes. 
Oreo in India
• Top competitors- Sunfeast dark fantasy, Britannia pure magic

• Target market- Children and teenagers (primary) , fun loving young adults(secondary)

• Brand reinforced using emotional appeal (relation between siblings etc). Satisfies functional
needs(hunger) and medium of fun with milk for kids
 Comparison of Oreo with Dark Fantasy and Pure Magic
OREO  DARK PURE MAGIC 
FANTASY 
Tagline  Twist, Lick, Dunk  Escape into One  Pure Bliss Pure Magic 
Target Market  Children Teenagers, Young adults 
and teenagers(primary young fun
target)  loving adults(15-
Fun loving adults(25- 25yrs) 
40yrs) (secondary target) 
Rituals  Collective consumption  Self indulgence, Self indulgence 
sensual appeal 
Brand Ambassador  Ranbir Kapoor     - - 
Factors Small sachets available  Small sachets - 
supporting Impulse  available 
purchase 
Survey Analysis (Exhibit 1)
Functional Dimension
Aspects  Oreo  Dark Fantasy  Pure Magic 

Energy giving  2.82  2.79  2.74  Oreo is being ranked highest

Quick snack  3.50  3.39  3.34  in the case of functional
Satisfies hunger  3.42  3.29  3.19  attribute. 
Average  3.246  3.156  3.09 

Emotional Dimension
Aspects  Oreo  Dark Fantasy  Pure Magic 
Sharing with others  3.45  3.34  3.23  Oreo is being ranked highest in
Induce strong feelings in me  2.82  2.77  2.63  the case of emotional
Average  3.135  3.055  2.93  dimension. 

Symbolic Dimension
Aspects  Oreo  Dark Fantasy  Pure Magic 

I Can Identify with these brands  3.35  3.16  2.94  Overall average in symbolism

I feel like treating myself  3.27  3.56  3.18  dimension is high for Dark
Brands consumed only by specific type of people  3.05  3.47  3.15  Fantasy.
Brands communicate who I am to other people  3.27  3.23  2.97 
Brands help me become the type of person I want 2.47  2.34  2.21 
to be  Oreo should work to bring the
 Average 3.082  3.152  2.89  touch of gratifying oneself.
Survey Analysis (Exhibit 1)
Experiential Dimension
Aspects  Oreo  Dark Fantasy  Pure Magic 
Dark Fantasy is more successful
Brand makes me happy  3.52  3.63  3.48 
in providing experiential
Indulgence  3.63  4.11  3.71 
benefits post usage.
Average  3.575  3.87  3.595 

Physical Attributes
Aspects  Oreo   Dark Fantasy  Pure Magic 
Biscuits are very creamy  3.87  4.03  3.66  Apart from the cookie
Great taste  4.13  4.16  3.77  crispiness, consumer
Crispy cookie  3.85  3.82  3.66  perception on the basis of
Pleasing appearance  3.98  4.23  3.74  physical attributes, Dark
Wonderful aroma  3.45  3.77  3.40 
Fantasy is rated better on
Average.  3.856  4.002  3.646 
physical attributes.

Price – Quality Relationship

Aspects  Oreo  Dark Fantasy  Pure Magic 
Consumers may perceive
Careful processing and handling  4.05  4  3.87 
Excellent quality  4.19  4.27  3.92 
better quality of Dark Fantasy
Expensiveness  3.34  4.18  3.73  with respect to its higher
price.
Ad Analysis
Parameters Oreo Dark Fantasy Pure Magic

Underlining Love & playfulness in

children/young adult Materialism, Personal Sophistication, Adult
themes indulgence Romance
relationships

Child-Parent duo, young

People adults Young Adults Young Adults

Cultural Ritual of drinking milk,

Wealth and Luxury Not distinct
elements social bonding over food

Ground: Rich & Ground: Chocolaty

Ground: Love & playfulness
Figure & Ground Figure: Oreo & Milk
Luxurious setting, Dark theme
Figure: Adult & Cookie Figure: Cookie
Ad Analysis - Evolution of Oreo Advertisements 
Phase 1 (2012-2013)
• With the launch of this brand in India, initial ads focused on parent child
bonding over the ritual of drinking milk with biscuits. 
• Certain likeable elements like cuteness of the kid and playful background music
were used.
• The references to western origins of the brand were minimal, being limited to “Twist,
Lick and Dunk” way of eating Oreo, already quite popular in US.
• Gradually the ads evolved and started showing friends in place of parents, the essence
of message remaining the same. 
• For cultural adaptation purpose, milk is a prominent feature in almost all ads.
Association with milk is giving the brand an image of being healthy and does not
provoke guilty pleasure feelings. 
• The concept of kid teaching an adult, how to eat the cookie, shows a message of child
being present in adults and young adults.
 Ad Analysis - Evolution of Oreo Advertisements 
Phase 2 (2014)
• Since earlier ads portrayed kids primarily, Cadbury came up with a campaign in which
married daughters are gifting their fathers. This would have been done to ensure
the brand moves out of its associations just with kids.
• On the similar lines, mischievous character was added and campaigns
like #playwithoreo were introduced to include adults in the fold.
• Around this time, people had started consuming Oreo in different ways like making
shakes, pancakes etc. Using the cookie and it had a nice fan following of young
adults also. To leverage the same, different ways to eat Oreo campaign was introduced.
Phase 3 (2015)
• To move towards a premium image, roast almond creme was launched. The ads for this
variant revolved around festivity, celebrations and adults were portrayed.
 Ad Analysis – Dark Fantasy & Pure Magic
Evolution of Dark Fantasy advertisements 
• The basic theme which has stayed right from inception is personal indulgence.
Emphasis on sensual appeal has been consistent. The feeling of guilty pleasure is also
subtly attached to the theme. 
• All the ads have ultra-rich settings.

Evolution of Pure Magic advertisements

• Funky modern image, words like selfie, youth targeted, biscuit+chocolate
• Bollywood like music, young on the go lifestyle shown, couple romance leveraged,
“jyada nahi hogya” break away image of youth shown
• Not caring for social taboos: romancing in train
Hedonism
• The Oreo Experience - Oreo has been trying to evoke the feeling of playfulness when
associated with it. The ads have successfully portrayed a “new playful optimism with
endless possibilities” using various relationships like father and kids, friends and playful
adults.  
• The ads inspire people to connect with the world around despite their differences and
become “OREO People”.
• Failed to portray the feelings of self-indulgence and sensual appeal that other premium
brands like Dark Fantasy and Pure Magic have used to position themselves successfully.
• Ads portray children and their fun side being mimicked by adults, which does not cover
the target segment who would buy Premium Biscuits, ie. Young adults.
Gaps: 
1. Fails to paint a picture of itself as a premium product in the advertisements.
2. The targeted segment for the product is currently only kids who are unlikely consumers     
of premium products.
Sensory input and culture
• Our sensory perceptions depend hugely on our culture. India deeply associates milk as
a healthy drink for children, and the market for making milk consumption favourable
for kids is high.
• Oreo being depicted as a cookie to be consumed with milk, as shown in its ads and
packaging, is assumed to be ideal only for children who consume milk.
• The playful adults targeted do not associate themselves much with a snack consumed
with milk.

Gaps: 
1. The relativity to all the target segments needs to be addressed.
Heider’s theory – Oreo Daily Dunks
The triadic relationship between brand, celebrity and consumer is important. There
should be a match between them. Ranbir Kapoor is the brand ambassador for Oreo and
we can see that there is resemblance between the brand and celebrity joyful
image. Consumers who dislike Ranbir Kapoor might not like Oreo. This will be a negative
impact of the celebrity to the brand. 
Here we see there is equilibrium, if there is a disequilibrium between the brand, consumer
and celebrity eventually the consumers will either start liking the celebrity and in turn
like the brand or they will end up disliking the brand.
The universal appeal of Ranbir Kapoor perfectly fits with the brand.
Weber’s law 
The initial stimulus of Oreo has created a long-lasting impact on its consumers. The
feature ad showing milk glass around the theme of Twist, lick and dunk has stayed with
consumers. To target a wider segment they would have to move away from the milk glass
in the background with a second stimuli of higher intensity.

Gaps: 
1. The attachment of Oreo being served with milk glass is making it difficult for the
brand to attract the adult segment
Sensory Inputs
Sight 
The packaging of the competitor’s products has a matte finish and have used rich colors and
calligraphic script to make it look premium. 
Oreo’s packaging (Exhibit 3) in contrast is a purple one with a designed emboss on each cookie. 
Scent 
Oreo did not have a considerable focus on the aroma of the product as the other competitors did. 
Sunfeast defined Dark Fantasy as “... ;it’s a luxurious mix of aromatic cocoa and vanilla.” and the
customers did believe that it did have a good aroma (Exhibit 1) 
Taste 
It can be inferred that the taste of Oreo is liked by the respondents in general, as it comes a near
second to Sunfeast’s Dark Fantasy. Bitter taste of chocolate cookie is complemented by sweet
vanilla cream. 
Gaps: 1. Sensory inputs don't create an aura of premiumness and indulgence around the product
(Packaging, visual ad imagery, taste suited to western consumers).
Culture and Rituals
1. There is a particular ritual to drinking milk in India in terms
of occassion of consumption mostly on a daily basis. Oreo’s association with milk
attaches it to the ritual, increasing the frequency of its consumption.
2. Indian culture of celebrating occasions such a meet ups with relatives or friends
with sweets is also utilised as a theme in cream biscuit brands' communications.  
3. Oreo has a strong association with global pop culture primarily because of its 100
year history and popularity in USA. Brand communications are also in tune with
events happening around the globe e.g. LGBT activism. This involvement allows Oreo
to get into the mind space of young adults and can make transition from a kid focused
product easier.
4. Western associations are usually considered premium by Indians, which Oreo
leverages.
Gaps Identified
1. Fails to paint a picture of itself as a premium product in the advertisements.
2. The targeted segment for the product is currently only kids who are
unlikely consumers of premium products.
3. The relativity to all the target segments needs to be addressed.
4. The attachment of Oreo being served with milk glass is making it difficult for
the brand to attract the adult segment
5. Sensory inputs don't create an aura of premiumness and indulgence around
the product (Packaging, visual ad imagery, taste suited to western consumer.
Recommendations
1. To enhance its premium appeal, celebrity endorser who resonates with
current character of brand can be used in advertisements. The person and
storyboard chosen should also provide that subtle hint of premiumness along with
its current message of playfulness.
2. Along with Cookie+Milk the figure and ground's premium appeal can be         
  increased by showing things associated with richness.
3. Increased focus on secondary target segment (fun loving young adults), since
Oreo is already well established in children segment,  different appealing message
can be used to kindle feelings associated with each target segment.