SYBAMMC Sem IV: Oreo Biscuit IMC Plan and Marketing Strategy

This report provides a detailed analysis of the integrated marketing communication (IMC) plan for Oreo biscuits, focusing on the Indian market. The report begins with an executive summary highlighting Oreo's market position, its 'Twist, Lick, and Dunk' positioning, and the challenges it faces from competitors. A situational analysis follows, providing an overview of Oreo's history, its entry into the Indian market, and its mission statement. The core of the report examines Oreo's marketing mix (product, place, price, and promotion) in the Indian context, followed by a SWOT analysis that identifies the brand's strengths (distribution, global market presence, good quality packaging, brand trust), weaknesses (limited target group, high competition), opportunities (growing market for cookies, potential for economic contribution), and threats (competition, changing consumer preferences). The report offers insights into Oreo's strategies and market dynamics, making it a valuable resource for understanding the brand's approach to marketing and communication.

Mithibai College of Arts
SYBAMMC
Semester IV
Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) Assignment
Topic: IMC Plan of Oreo
Submitted by: Mansi Choudhary
Roll no: A005
SAP ID: 40316200039

Integrated marketing communication (IMC) can be defined as the process used to unify
marketing communication elements, such as public relations, social media, audience analytics,
business development principles, and advertising, into a brand identity that remains consistent
across distinct media channels. It allows public and private organizations and businesses to
deliver an engaging and seamless consumer experience for a product and/or service, and to
optimize an organization’s image and relationship with stakeholders.
An integrated marketing communications plan or IMC plan incorporates market research,
strategic planning, audience segmentation, marketing channel selection, creative briefs and
campaign messaging, budgeting, ROI analysis and a system for campaign metrics and
evaluation. to achieve maximum impact of marketing objectives.
The steps are:
1. Review of Marketing Plan
2. Promotional Programme Situational Analysis
3. Analysis of Communication Process
4. Budget Determination
5. Developing the Integrated Marketing Communication Programme
6. Mentoring, Evaluation and Control
1. Executive Summary
Kraft Foods and Cadbury’s launched Oreo (Premium Segment Cream Biscuit) in India in 2011.
India is the world’s largest Biscuit market (as per volume) growing at a rate of 17% per annum.
The cream segment is leading the growth of biscuit industry with 25%-30% growth. Oreo has
built its positioning on ‘Togetherness’ in India. It’s ritual of ‘Twist, Lick and Dunk’ is
internationally known, and has also caught up with Indian consumers. This positioning has
helped Oreo in differentiating itself, in an industry where competition and rivalry is high. At
the same time suppliers have low bargaining power. Nielsen Group had conducted a research
‘Togetherness Quotient’ for Oreo. The findings for the research have been extensively used by
the company in modelling and understanding consumer behaviour with respect to Price,
Promotion, Place and Product. Various concepts like perceptions, motivation and learning of
consumer behaviour have been leveraged by Cadbury Oreo.
This report is commissioned to analyse the product and create specific communication
strategies appropriate with the product. Oreo is an iconic product line from Nabisco – an

American company, which is a subsidiary of Mondelez International, but it has significant
presence in India. The combination of cookies sandwiches with chocolate wafer and crème
have won the mindshare of millions of consumers across the country. Nevertheless, the sharp
change in consumer behaviours and needs have imposed big challenges for Oreo to cope with;
especially in terms of healthiness product or flavours for local taste, and the already occupied
market by big players such as Parley. Hence, the integrated marketing communication for Oreo
Biscuit needs to be revised, in order to deal with such challenges and help Oreo became the
most selling cookie brand in India.
2. Situational Analysis
2.1 Overview
Oreos were first produced by the National Biscuit Company (presently named as Nabisco), a
division of Mondelez International, in New York at its Chelsea, Manhattan factory in the
current-day Chelsea Market Complex, located on Ninth Avenue between 15th and 16th Streets.
Today, this same location of Ninth Avenue is known as “Oreo Way.” The name Oreo was first
trademarked on March 14, 1912. Oreos were developed as an imitation of Hydroxy cookies,
which were first marketed by the Sunshine Company four years earlier in 1908. Through better
marketing, and arguably a much more appealing name, Oreo has become the brand most
consumers think of when they want a cream-filled chocolate sandwich. Interestingly, the origin
of the name of the cookie is unknown, though theories abound. While it introduced new
flavours for its filling, the only version that was retained is the original white creme filling.
2.2 Oreo in India
Mondelez was present in India in the Chocolates, Beverages and Candy categories. The
company entered the Rs 17,000 crore, competitive India Biscuit market with their lead brand
Oreo in 2011. The Biscuits category was growing at 17% in India (Nielsen Survey, 2010).
While the Oreo launch presented opportunities, it also posed great challenges. From being a
leader in the Chocolates category in India, Mondelez was now a challenger in the Biscuits
category. The challenge was to launch Oreo and peg it against three Biscuit category titans-
Parle (41%), Britannia (26%) and ITC (8%), who dominated the biscuit market with a total of
75% market share. These players had been present in the market for many years and had a
strong portfolio of established household brands. And the Biscuit category was a very
competitive market – only two brands (Parle-G and Britannia Good Day) in a pool of about
1000 brands had garnered more than a 5% market share. Even established brands like Hide and
Seek, Monaco and Bourbon had less than 2% market share. This shows the seemingly
insurmountable task that a new brand had to circumvent to establish its credentials in this
category in India.
Cream biscuits are primarily consumed by households with children. Cream being the central
component and biscuit just the shell, the focus for a brand was obvious and undisputable —
Cream! It was also known that consumers did not find any differentiation between brands.
Therefore, the key challenge for Oreo was to decide on how to get a firm foothold in a fiercely
competitive category ruled by familiar household brand names with firmly entrenched buying
and consumption habits. It entered the market as Cadbury Oreo because Cadbury is a strong
brand name in India, and initially focused on generating awareness and rapid trials. The key

objectives of the launch were: Gain a 1% share of the Biscuit category in the first year, which
it did in just 6 months. Build awareness, 40% trials and 40% repeat purchase in priority
markets. Today, Oreo is one of the most successful chocolate cookie companies in India with
a market share of 8.5%. The products, services, and tastes are giving pleasure to the people for
decades.
2.3 Mission Statement
“Every day, we are inspired to go the extra mile to lead the future of snacking around the world.
We do this by offering the right snack, for the right moment, made the right way.” The OREO
brand is on a mission to bring people together through fun, playful moments.
3. Marketing Mix of Oreo
A marketing mix is a comprehensive series of actions used by a company to introduce or
promote its products. It includes 4Ps, Product, Place, Price & Promotion. It helps companies
achieve business goals & objectives, and it is widely used to define strategies. Let’s see how
Oreo is using its marketing mix
3.1 Product Strategy of Oreo
Oreo is a leading biscuit brand and having a presence in various countries across the globe.
One of the major products of Oreo is the Chocolate Sandwich. The product is also customized
as per the target market. There are a lot of varieties available but not all the varieties are
available at every location. Most of the Oreo Variants are available in the USA, in India, you
can’t see much variety of flavours. They are experimenting with flavours in India, recently they
launched red velvet and chocolate-flavoured cookies, and are working on more varieties. The
packaging says a lot about the product because it attracts the customer to purchase it and the
same has worked for Oreo very successfully. The packaging style of the company has played
a significant role in increasing its popularity, and the design of various products of different
varieties has attracted a large customer base for the company.
3.2 Place Strategy of Oreo
Oreo started its operations in Birmingham, UK and now it has covered different overseas
markets like the United States, India, Ireland, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. It uses its
parent company Mondelez’s distribution network for availing the product to its end consumers.
As it has manufacturing facilities available at each of the continents for different products
meeting the demands of the customer. Oreo is doing great in the urban market as compared to
the rural market. It follows the traditional method of distribution in which products are
transferred from manufacturing units to distributors via the agents and then to retailers. In India,
the channel through which each of these products is sold includes shopping malls, centres,
mom and pops stores, retail outlets, etc.
3.3 Price Strategy of Oreo

Oreo uses a mid-premium pricing policy; it offers quality products and prices them at mid-
range which has helped it to gain a loyal customer base. In India initially, they opted for a
lower marketing pricing strategy to gain a higher market share, but eventually, as they saw the
popularity for the products increasing, they increased the pricing accordingly. The company
also wanted to enter new markets and hence choose a penetration pricing policy initially to
attract new customers. People in urban cities prefer high-quality products and don’t mind
paying more for these products therefore the brand can generate high revenues.
3.4 Promotion Strategy of Oreo
The Oreo-Cadbury partnership has launched rigorous marketing campaigns displaying creative
and innovative themes with different activities to build a connection with the customers and
leave a lasting impact on them. The main target audience for the company is children and youth
due to which it promotes on Tv and social media heavily, it has used every advertising tool like
print media, visual media, and digital media, The packing also helps the consumer in
identifying the brand easily. Milk’s Favourite Cookie is one of the famous hook lines of Oreo.
The company also participates and organizes different events to interact with the customers
directly and believe strongly in community activities.
4. SWOT Analysis
4.1 Strength
• Large Distribution: Cadbury has a widespread distribution. It has retailers and a chain
of distribution from rural to urban areas. The company with a large distribution chain
makes the biggest brand in the country.
• Global Market: As Oreo is owned by Cadbury and Mondelez International. It has a
huge market that is spread worldwide. One of the plus points of Oreo is it connects to
the target audience through digital marketing.
• Good Quality Packaging: Oreo has a good marketing team that helps the brand to
become big. According to the market, they adapt the edition and packaging that helps
the brand to make it international.
• Brand Trust: Cadbury Oreo has been in the Indian market for more than 10 years. Over
the years it has gained its trust from loyal customers which makes the Cadbury Oreo
gain high brand equity.
4.2 Weakness
• Limited Target Group: Oreo has a limited target audience that prefers creme biscuits.
• Competition is High: With the changing market environment, many products are
coming into the cookies industry.
• More expensive compared to other cookies.
• Not the healthiest option.
• Small number of cookies in package.

• Because it is “milks favourite cookie” they are leaving out lactose intolerant people.
• Internal competition: Cadbury’s has other products like Bourn Vita biscuits and
chocolates which eat into the market share of the Oreo biscuits and thereby have low
volumes and low margins which in turn affects the profitability.
4.3 Opportunity
• The Growing Market for Cookies: As per the growing trend there is a boost in the
cookies industry. There is huge potential in the market to grow. As the industry is
booming, it brings a huge market for Oreo. In the future, there is vast potential for the
brand.
• Helping Economy: As the biggest market that comes with the billion-dollar revenue, it
helps the economy grow. The biscuit industry is growing day by day and Oreo is one
of the largest biscuit companies that is growing rapidly and boosting the economy.
• Limited Offers with Different Schemes: Oreo must come with the limited offer edition
according to the season and changing needs of the targeted customer which will help
the brand to grow and make a way for new opportunities.
4.4 Threats
• Competition: One of the biggest threats for Oreo is tough competition. As per the
growing demand for this industry, there are various substitutes available in the market.
As the competition increases it will affect the growth of the company.
• Not So Healthy Ingredients: Oreo contains unhealthy ingredients such as fats, sugar,
fructose, and harmful ingredients that are used for storing it for a long time. In today’s
era, people are switching towards healthier products which can lead to a decrease in
demand for Oreo.
• Lack of Recognition in Remote Areas: Many places in the country lack the recognition
of the Oreo brand, they still don’t know much about Oreo and the products that are
offered by the brand.
5. Competitive Analysis
The main competitors of Oreo are Good Day, Parle G, Dark Fantasy and companies like Mars,
Hershey’s, ITC, Parle, Britania, Nestle etc are all competitors of Cadbury’s. The competitive
space in the cream biscuit category is really intense. It is notable that Britannia’s and ITC’s
Sunfeast already have similar products, which have a strong footing in the market. Britannia’s
Treat-O and Pure Magic and Sunfeast’s Dark Fantasy dominate this space. In such a scenario,
it was very difficult yet important for Oreo to differentiate itself from these products. Oreo is
simply trying to play on its global proposition but Oreo claims that its success in global markets
is based on deep local consumer understanding and insights – making it locally relevant. In
India, Oreo has been launched in its classic flavour – dark chocolate biscuit with smooth vanilla
creme – based on consumer insights that show Indian consumers responding enthusiastically
to the product.

6. Key Strategic Decisions
6.1 Marketing Objective
• Increase sales by 20%
• Increase market share to 12% in the biscuits category
• Becoming the Number 1 cream sandwich brand in India
6.2 Media objectives:
• Using media to provide coverage to at least 80% of the target market over a period of
6 months.
• Reach 60% of the target audience at least 3 times over the same 6-month period.
• Creating a positive brand image through the family engagement and creativity.
6.3 Communication Objectives
• Brand awareness
By the end of the 3-month campaign, we want 80% of the target audience to be able to
recognize Oreo at the point of purchase. We intend to acquire brand awareness and
recognition through advertisements, offline and online.
• Brand purchase intention
Encouraging purchase behaviour can be achieved through promotional effects such as
advertising. We want to increase brand purchase intention by advertising in a way to
get even consumers who wouldn’t normally purchase our product to want to try it.
7. Positioning Strategy
Oreo positions itself as a premium sandwich biscuit brand which not only works as a
supplement to chocolate and sweet cravings but also works as a dessert after meal. It has
differentiated its brand with innovative ways of consumption such as “Twist, Lick, Dunk”,
“Dip in Milk” etc. Due to its premium positioning, big brands such as McDonalds, Kwality
Walls have licensed its brand and has integrated their products with Oreo, which further
strengthens of the brand.
Oreo is a cookie brand that gives consumers distinctive flavours for their taste buds. As Oreo
globally rose, it gradually developed an international rate of flavours, somehow making
consumers think that they’ve strayed too far from their identity. Before, Oreo was a sandwich
cookie known for having two wafers with a sweet crème feeling, but as of today, Oreo now has
different flavours for different kinds of people, leaving their consumers with a number of
varieties to choose from. Oreo is also known for having many taglines, one of them is “Milk's
favourite Cookie”, this labels Oreo that their cookie is best partnered with Milk, thus creating
a window for their identity. With Oreo’s tagline developing over decades, it showed their
perseverance towards delivering an original distinctive taste for their consumers.
8. Target Audience

• Demographics
Oreo has two targeted consumers; children and parents. Oreo’s primary target audience
are individuals from the ages of 6-18. These individuals are typically kindergarten aged
or school aged children. In addition, to individuals attending a high-school or college.
The secondary target audience are the parents of those school-aged children. Targeting
the parents also directly influences the purchasing and consumer. Oreo does target
middle-class families. Oreo is a relevantly affordable snack food, targeting middle-class
families continues to target both primary and secondary audiences.
• Geo-Demographics
The target audience will be densely populated cities in India.
• Psychographics
Families with an easy-going lifestyle and with creative hobbies.
9. The Plan
9.1 Message
Oreo from the beginning does not rely upon mass media and they follow an interaction model
allowing 2-way communications with consumers through digital channel mostly catering to
emotional needs of people. However, in all of its earlier campaign they have focused in only
bonding and relationship between two individuals, but given the recent trends where one joint
family getting divided and forming some numbers of nuclear family and also fading away of
connection and bonding between family members campaign #Happytimeswithoreo aims to
replenish those bonds and bring family members together, thus fulfilling the emotional needs
of people.
9.2 Budget
The percentage of sales budgeting method has been chosen as a method on budgeting to control
us through the costs that we will bring about all through the marketing. As we are intending to
get Rs. 150 crores in sales during the campaign of 6 months. 14% of it is chosen to cover the
campaign budget i.e., Rs 21 crore.
9.3 Our Campaign: Taking forward our campaign #happytimeswithoreo, we will run a
contest asking people to send the happy moments they have spent with Oreo, which they
couldn’t achieve normally in a busy mechanical life. Out of that all will be getting goodies and
few lucky drawers can avail the opportunity of flying to Maldives and Singapore with full
family for a winter holiday trip coming December 2022 with the tag lines
#happytimeswithoreo and #dreamfulfilledoreo
9.4 Promotional Mix
The mix of Advertising and sales promotion will be used to achieve the targets. The
communication channels selected for our campaign is YouTube, Instagram, Facebook,
Television, billboards and events which means indirect channel.
• Television

An ad would be created delivering the message #oreowithlove featuring a family
having Oreo together. It would run on the television for 3 months. Expected watch will
be 4 Lakh+ children and 10 Lakh+ Adults.
• YouTube
An ad before the video would be played for 6 months. Expected watch for this would
will be 7 lakhs+ children and 20 lakhs+ adults.
• Facebook
Capitalizing the Facebook page, we run to make people pot their family moments and
also try indulging them into the contest with continuous monitoring of the traffic on
Facebook page.
• Instagram
(Influential Outreach) Similar kind of campaign info will be run on Instagram also, as
Instagram is influence outreach, we are planning to make challenge campaign also.
• Snapchat
We will collaborate with Snapchat to feature the discover section of the app where users
can find us and subscribe to the brand. This will give us the opportunity to reach to
thousands of users with daily curated content for Snapchat. Introducing more custom
made Indian based Oreo filters.
• Outdoor Media
Hoarding would be put up on mega cities to increase the number of people to join the
campaign.
• Sales Promotion Activity
As before, an Oreo truck will be going to various places across different cities
promoting the campaign, inside the truck, the set up would be there to make sure that
the family spends quality time together.
9.5 Budget Distribution
35% of the total budget would be used in making the ad, while other 60% percent would be
used in advertising it. The remaining 5% of the budget would be used for the gifting the people
with goodies and the trip.
10. Conclusion
Oreo is an obvious and consistent leader in the snacking industry. By focusing on what the
Oreo brand represents, rather than product benefits or ingredient advantages, Oreo has
personified its iconic cookie through light hearted and unexpected advertising. While it has
been mentioned that the primary audience for Oreo consists of adults, recent advertising efforts
have revealed that a younger audience is just as important. This has been proven in campaigns
that feel extremely youthful, curious, colourful and playful. One justification for this could be
that Oreo utilizes the existing desire that parents have to associate their children with friendly
and iconic brands. In essence, Oreo has been able to “kill two birds with one stone” as they
utilize advertising that plays to the senses of the child while also helping the parent fulfil their
role of caretaker. We believe that these past initiatives are a large part of success. We want to
continue to maintain that momentum by using a similar advertising strategy while introducing
a new emphasis on younger, more modern crowds such as millennials. Part of reaching this

audience will be to utilize mediums and channels that are already part of their existing lifestyles
including social media, guerrilla marketing, print and video. Our aim to capitalize on this would
be to take advantage of the need that millennials have to associate themselves with brands that
represent their idealistic lifestyles. This lifestyle-driven campaign will focus on Oreo as a key
player in their decision-making process. Lifestyles that support spontaneity, adventure, travel,
risk and independence are all components of this campaign. Oreo is an obvious and consistent
leader in the snacking industry.