OREO “Twist” Stays Effective a Year on

With the ramp-up to Super Bowl season well underway – as usual we’ll be testing every ad and bringing you the most accurate effectiveness predictions around – everyone’s focused on the newest creative work brands are bringing to the big game.

But what about last year’s ads? One of the paradoxes of the Super Bowl is that brands spend millions on securing a precious Game Day slot but too often they don’t follow up or re-use the ideas, and the spotlight moves onto next year’s work. This might generate a few more headlines in the run-up to the event but it neglects the crucial relationship between effectiveness and creative consistency.

OREO made one of the highlights of last year’s Super Bowl ads with their “Stay Playful” campaign, developed with The Martin Agency. It showed people faced with a choice and deciding to ‘Twist On It’ to see which side of their cookie got the cream filling when twisted open. They’ve kept on with the concept and this newest 15 second ad has another example – two women deciding whether to watch just one more episode of a streaming series or binge the whole lot. The “binge” option wins, but the woman who chose it sleeps through most of the show!

It’s a quick, funny ad which benefits from not needing to explain the “twist on it” concept, so it can just present a relatable situation. The ad has plenty of “between-ness” – our word for togetherness and human connection in ads, where we’re watching characters with relationships onscreen rather than being talked at by an ad. “Between-ness” draws the attention of the right brain, which understands context better and is associated with greater long-term effectiveness, as detailed by Orlando Wood in his Look Out book.

But the most important lesson from the ad is simply the fact it exists. Rather than move on to a new creative idea once the Super Bowl is over, OREO have stuck with their existing concept and are looking to reap the benefits of creative consistency. Those benefits are major. In our recent Compound Creativity study, we explored how multiple elements of creative consistency work together to lead to increased longer-term growth. These elements vary from things that are visible on-screen, like consistent ideas and characters, to behind-the-scenes aspects like a lasting brand/agency relationship.

OREO’s consistency is rooted in its decision to stick with a successful idea. “Twist On It” takes a familiar brand asset – the cookie itself – and puts a fresh spin on it to create a new but instantly familiar concept. OREO introduced that to the public on advertising’s biggest night. Then they ran with the idea and followed up with new, entertaining executions. This one got a strong 4.0 Star Rating and Exceptional short-term Spike Rating and Brand Fluency scores, all well above the category average. It’s textbook creative consistency and a reminder that there’s always more to do with a strong idea.