How is everyone this lovely Friday? It’s been a busy week for this author, and hence quite quiet here at MAJOR: MARKETING.

I thought I would post some stuff that has fascinated me on social media, just for your entertainment. And I guess one brand sums up everything pretty well…

Oreo!

Oreo has been doing a marvelous job of staying hyper-relevant and on trend to all that happens over social media.

What I found really amazing was that they run a GLOBAL Facebook page rather than a local one! Doesn’t that make it doubly hard to stay relevant? And yet I think they are doing great, at least on the Singapore front.

If you are not from Singapore, here’s what they did:

A Hello Kitty fever is hitting Singapore. Long queues line up outside of local McDonald’s outlets where girls wait for their favourite cat, brothers queue for their sisters, and boyfriends wait in line for their girlfriends. The fever is so hot, in fact, that eBay is currently selling these feline soft toys at astronomical prices. Oreo has entered the fray quickly with “Hello, Cookie”.

Just after the haze hit, there were reports of a hailstorm in Singapore. Normally unheard of in our sunny little tropical island. The rare weather event naturally fascinated most Singaporeans.

Being the self-deprecating lot we are, a viral video has been spun out of an interview with a local who commented that the hail stones looked like grapes…

Of course, Oreo did not miss out on the opportunity either, and came up with “Hail, Oreo!” mere hours after the news and videos of the hail came online.

(On a side note, I totally love this video. It’s so awesome that it’s playing on loop on my computer right now! Hilarious.)

By now, the whole world knows that we had the haze that hit PSI 401 last Friday. I also featured it in a previous post about companies who jumped on the haze bandwagon to promote their brand and products.

Then there was Man of Steel that happened close to Father’s Day. Oreo killed two birds with one stone by celebrating “Super Dads”.

This has to be one of the most on-trend brands ever, further perfecting the real-time marketing they pioneered at Superbowl. Staying on top of the news has kept Oreo at the top of mind of consumers. The humour that comes with these posts also help to create a fun personality for the cookies. Brilliant, really. Looking forward to see more from Oreo!

**Edit (June 22, 2013): Added Starhub to the list!

The PSI Index has hit a high of 371 in Singapore today. Even as the rest of the country post increasingly hazy shots of their country, businesses are coming up with creative ways of making the most out of #SGHaze. Here’s some that I got off Facebook:

1. Oreo
As the company which more or less pioneered “real-time marketing” with its successful “Dunk In The Dark” campaign in the American Superbowl, it is not surprising that Oreo is one of the first brands to come up with a social media response to the #SGHaze. Check out their gas mask with Oreo stuffing.

2. Cadbury Dairy Milk
Sister brand of Oreo, Cadbury has also come up with an interesting post on its Facebook page that is relevant to the haze. What I felt would have been a real coup would have been for them to really put this in the papers. After all, we all know how effective the newspapers are for the Singapore market. It would have had a much greater reach!

3. Costa Coffee
Costa Coffee advices us to keep our masks on and come indoors for a cup of coffee with their interesting mask coffee art.

4. Scoot
Scoot thinks we should just fly out of Singapore to avoid the the haze altogether with their low fares to different locations around the region. Well, we all know where we don’t want to fly to, don’t we? Not after they called us childish!

5. Adidas
My favourite, and one of the earliest to come up with any sort of response, is Adidas’ “Go All In(doors)” advisory on their Facebook page. I love how their tagline is embedded, and how it gives an added meaning. Parentheses are pretty overused after (RED) campaigns, but this is just right.

6. Physical ABuse
Local gym Physical ABuse has also decided to alleviate the pain of not being able to be out and about in the horrible weather. They are offering free gym access until PSI levels are stabilised. Of course, we have no idea what “stabilised” means. I hope they mean “back to normal levels”.

7. LifeOpp
Job-matching community LifeOpp has taken it one step further and gave out free face masks to locals at different malls around Singapore. Definitely a good way to boost awareness of the company. I do hope that they somehow managed to brand those masks though. Otherwise the mileage of this campaign would be limited.

8. McDonald’s Peak Sauce Index
Looking at how high the PSI really is, McD’s approach is fast lousy its humour, in my opinion. Then again, the new Wasabi and Honey Mustard sauce might offer sweet respite from our smokey woes.

What is truly laudable about McDonald’s is that it has decided to suspend McDeliveries because of the haze to protect its delivery riders. It’s one of the very first companies to do so today.

McDelivery is halting until further notice

Since McDonald’s move, other companies have also followed suit. Amongst them, competitor KFC:

As you can see, most Singaporeans are approving of such moves. Most are of the opinion that employee well-being is more important than the sales that these companies might lose.

The #SGHaze has become an excellent platform for brands to show that they care, and to show how their brands are relevant and fit into the lives of consumers.

9. Starhub Offers Free Previews
Reader Tan Teck Heng has shared Starhub’s Facebook post as well. They are offering free TV previews for those of us staying at home!

How did you like their attempts? What’s your favourite? Tell me more at the comments!

Oreo: The brand that chases the news

Oreo!

Haze Prompts Creativity From Companies in Singapore

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