SUB CATEGORY :

USE OF GUERRILLA MARKETING & STUNTS

COMPANY ENTERING :

MONDELEZ INTERNATIONAL FOODS PVT LTD, MUMBAI

TITLE :

THALA THALAPATHY

BRAND :

OREO

ADVERTISER :

MONDELEZ INTERNATIONAL FOODS PVT LTD

AGENCY :

LEO BURNETT INDIA, MUMBAI

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT - STRATEGY :

MITTU TORKA

ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT-
ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT :

SHAILEE MEHTA

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER :

AMITESH RAO (LEO BURNETT SOUTH ASIA)

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR :

ABHIMANYU KHEDKAR

CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER, PUBLICIS GROUPE SOUTH ASIA & CHAIRMAN, LEO BURNETT SOUTH ASIA :

RAJDEEPAK DAS

GLOBAL EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR :

MAYURESH DUBHASHI

REGIONAL CREATIVE DIRECTOR :

UDAY KUMAR

NATIONAL CREATIVE DIRECTOR :

SACHIN KAMBLE/VIKRAM PANDEY

CREATIVE DIRECTOR :

VIGNESH IYER/DURGESH PRAGATI SATISH AMBLE

SENIOR ART DIRECTOR :

MALHAR VAIDYA/KARAN BORIYA/ASMITA KARANDIKAR

ART DIRECTOR :

ESHA DORNALA

COPYWRITER :

SAVANNAH PATEL/AAKANKSHA JOSHI/
ANANDAKRISHNAN LOGANATHAN (TAMIL)

CREATIVE EDITOR :

YATISH BANGERA

BRAND STRATEGY DIRECTOR :

VRUDHI DOSHI

BRAND SERVICES DIRECTOR :

TANVI SHAH

MEDIA AGENCY :

WAVEMAKER INDIA, MUMBAI

GENERAL MANAGER :

NAINA SHEWAKRAMANI

BUSINESS DIRECTOR-STRATEGY :

MONIKA SOLANKI

CLIENT LEADER :

RACHANA MHETRE

DIRECTOR OF INNOVATION - IMC :

CHINTAN THAKKER

IMC-MANAGER :

ASTHA GUPTA

MANAGER IMC :

NIKITA SHAH

CAMPAIGN SUMMARY :

In Tamil Nadu, the most penetrated market, Oreo lagged behind its rivals. To create a distinctive cultural space for Oreo and embody its ethos of bringing people together, we endeavoured to unite rival movie fan clubs. Fan rivalry intensified as both actors' movies coincided during Pongal after 11 years. Through the launch of Limited-Edition #ThalaThalapathyCookies, we united rival clubs on 2 sides of 1 cookie, yielding remarkable outcomes. Sales value surged by 13.5%, outperforming Dark Fantasy in penetration growth rate, and bolstering consideration by 5points. Oreo transformed from a mere biscuit into a collectible, with a staggering 67x oversubscription rate.

CREATIVITY/IDEA/INSIGHT :

Since 2001, a rivalry had simmered between the Thala and Thalapathy fan groups. Filmmakers had, at times, capitalized on this feud, deliberately scheduling releases of both actors' movies to stoke fan fervor. In 2022, this rivalry flared up once again, as the stars were set to release their movies simultaneously after a nine-year hiatus.
Oreo took on the mission to unite these fans. Oreo’s global motto is to use play as an arsenal to bring people together. This was Oreo’s chance to unite the two fan groups and join the conversation as a playful peacemaker.
IDEA: UNITED THALA & THALAPATHY ON 2 SIDES OF THE SAME COOKIE
Our goal was not merely to preach to fans to set aside their rivalries. Rather, Oreo wanted to be the conduit to unite fans not only by our communication but also via the product itself. We brought Thala and Thalapathy together on the opposite sides of the same cookie, symbolling unity. This marked a historic moment in Oreo’s century long history, spanning over 100 countries. We departed from our iconic mold on both sides for the first time ever - all to champion a larger and more meaningful idea.

STRATEGY :

BRAND CONTEXT: Tamil Nadu was an important market for every premium cream biscuit brand because it ranked no 1 in penetration. However, Oreo’s penetration was low in this market - 15% behind Dark Fantasy.
MARKET CONTEXT: Pongal is the biggest festival in Tamil Nadu, making it the perfect opportunity for Oreo to build cultural relevance. While Oreo had to find an inroad into the festival, we had to be careful to not tamper with rituals to prevent hurting any religious sentiments. Therefore, we needed a different inroad to Pongal.
AUDIENCE CONTEXT: A historic event was happening during Pongal time in Jan 2023. 2 blockbuster Kollywood stars, Ajith (nicknamed Thala) and Vijay (nicknamed Thalapathy) had movie releases. This was monumental because Tamilians are hero worshippers with movie stars holding demi-god statuses. Fans have created temples! Once, a fan burned himself because he was unable to score his favourite actor’s movie ticket. The craze was real. Cinemas had geared up for 100% occupancy as Pongal was also the perfect holiday for families with kids to visit theatres. Therefore, instead of focusing on the religious context of Pongal, we chose to shift gears towards the mass euphoria surrounding the movie releases.

EXECUTION :

1: ANNOUNCEMENT
A 15-second film launched the two new sides of the cookie to Tamil Nadu. This digital film as a strategy placed a roadblock on the movie trailers & music lineups of the two films.
40+ outdoors placed near key cinemas showing off the new cookies.
Front pages in Dinathanti and Times of India (regional edit) to reach their 50L+ readership.
2: AMPLIFICATION
We collaborated with dedicated fan clubs and influential figures within the Kollywood film industry. This encompassed partnerships with prominent channels like Cineulagam and King Preethvi Raj that were known to pit fan teams against each other.
We orchestrated Oreo-branded contexts with a unique twist. Rival fans had to come together, whether physically or virtually, to secure a win. This was another stride in Oreo's mission to unite rival fan communities.
Collaborated with over 75+ popular local meme pages to build social conversation
3: LIVE-LAUNCH
Crafted 500 exclusive fan packs featuring limited edition Thala-Thalapathy embossed cookies, a first-of-its-kind offering in India that turned a simple biscuit into a collectible item for pre-booking.
To introduce this innovative concept, we hosted a live-ticker on Flipkart, allowing consumers to subscribe and secure their spot to own the limited-edition cookie

RESULT :

Post-campaign results revealed Oreo's penetration had grown nearly 9% faster than Dark Fantasy. This marked a historic milestone, as it was the first time the penetration gap between Oreo and Dark Fantasy in Tamil Nadu had been so narrow.This marked the very first time in Oreo's global history that we deviated from our iconic embossed design to embrace a fresh, innovative look. Our tireless efforts paid off when we introduced a limited run of just 500 exclusive #ThallaThalapathy cookie packs on Flipkart, and it immediately captured the imagination of the public. These packs garnered a staggering 34,000 registrations, oversubscription by 67x – all for a biscuit! This not only elevated Oreo from a mere biscuit to a collectible, a first in India. This surge in love for Oreo was clearly reflected in our consideration and purchase frequency scores, which surpassed those of Dark Fantasy. In conclusion, our success extended to regular, non-limited edition core Oreo packs as well, resulting in an impressive 40% increase in sales as compared to the same time period last year.