Final Project- Competitive Analysis

"By paying careful attention to what the client says about the brand or group and about the competition, you might gain useful insights." (Landa. Advertising by Design. John Wiley & Sons P&T. Page 15) A few competitors of Oreo are generic and store brand imitators, Chips Ahoy, Milano, Pepperidge Farm, WhoNu, and Keebler. The difference between these cookie/snack companies is that many of them make different styles of cookies than Oreo. Brands like Keebler, Pepperidge Farm, and Chips Ahoy make fudge and chocolate chip cookies, as Appleseed to Oreos cookies and cream sandwich style snack. However, the store brands and the "nutrition" cookie WhoNu, make the same form of cream sandwich cookie. I guess it's up to the consumer on which they believe tastes better, I would personally always choose Oreo.

Store brands don't use advertising to sell their products, but in order to convince customers to buy their product they offer lower prices than their competitors. Because the cookies taste similar it can be threatening to Oreo that these store brand options compete with their prices.




The other Oreo-mimicking competitor is the WhoNu brand cookies. WhoNu cookies come in four different favors, crunchy chocolate chip, chewy chocolate chip, vanilla sandwich, and chocolate sandwich ( the last to being copy-cats of the Oreo and Uh-oh Oreo.) they supposedly have a more nutritious value to them such as less fat and more vitamins and fiber. I've never had a WhoNu cookie, but its hard for me to believe that there is such thing as a healthy cookie. "It’s virtually the same crappy highly processed cookie, but with a multi-vitamin and a little fiber thrown in for good measure."





Other cookie brands that sell different types of cookies are still a competitor to Oreo because of their variety, marketing, advertising, and brand loyal customers. These brands use advertising that is strongly targeted at children. Keebler uses the elf bakers, Chips Ahoy uses flashy commercials and advertising. However, pepperidge farm targets their ads a much older crowd. I guess adults have as big as sweet tooth as children sometimes.

      

A critical component is learning about the audience—the targeted, specified group of people at whom you are aiming your message, design, and solution. The audience is the main group who would purchase this product, utilize this information or service, or patronize this entity or brand. (Landa. Advertising by Design. John Wiley & Sons P&T. Page 15). Even though these brands are great at targeting their customer base, there is something I have noticed about Oreos advertising that doesn't compare to other brands. Oreo doesn't seem to have am age, gender, or demographic category; Ores are for the whole family, anyone, any age, any time!