From turntable boxes to 'Game of Thrones'-themed cookies: How Oreo stays relevant despite changing consumer preferences

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Oreo's partnership with Google's Android

• Despite changing consumer preferences, Oreo stays relevant by introducing new flavors and variations and tapping into culture, said the brand's senior director, Justin Parnell.
• Oreo's positioning is all about being playful and inclusive, said Parnell, speaking at ANA's Brand Masters Conference.
• The brand also engages in experiments and tie-ins, such as its co-branding with Google's Android or upcoming limited-edition Game of Thrones packages.

Despite rapidly changing consumer preferences, Oreo has stayed relevant by tapping into innovation, culture, and playfulness, its senior director Justin Parnell said at the Association of National Advertisers' Brand Masters Conference on Wednesday.

"It's about elevating Oreo from being a cookie that you play with to being a brand that you engage with," said Parnell. "[A brand] that's interesting and playful, in and of itself."

Oreo has a brand purpose, and tries to live it every step of the way

Oreo has always associated itself with playfuness. Its latest global ad campaign was "Stay Playful," and one of the spots features musician Wiz Khalifa and his 5-year-old son, Sebastian, and shows how everyday life gets in the way of having fun, underscoring the importance of taking time to be playful with one another. The ad is set to a song that Khalifa especially composed for it. 

The spot was well-received, Parnell said. He didn't share specifics, but pointed to a tweet by musician P. Diddy praising the ad.

Oreo also doesn't shy away from addressing cultural touchpoints, said Parnell, citing its campaigns supporting gay pride and the LGBTQ community starting back in 2012.

It also tries to push the envelope with fun experiments and partnerships 

Oreo's "dunk in the dark" tweet in 2013 was one of the best-known Super Bowl social media stunts, and it continues to do playful and quirky campaigns.

For the Wiz Khalifa campaign above, for instance, Oreo created the "Oreo Music Box," a mini turntable designed to only read Oreo cookies, playing the song Khalifa composed for the spot. And on "National Left Handers' Day" last year, Oreo created special left-handed boxes.

Oreo collaborates with other brands on special edition packages, too, such as Disney for Mickey Mouse's 90th birthday celebrations, Google for Android Oreo or HBO for highly anticipated final season "Game Of Thrones." 

And it continues to innovate 

Lastly, Oreo keeps innovating with a steady stream of new flavors and variations, from Swedish Fish and root beer float flavors to Oreo Thins and The Most Stuf Oreos.

Such variations capture the imaginations of consumers and surprise them, helping boost the brand, said Parnell.

"Flavors have been one of the biggest brand-builders for us over the last five years," he said.