Comments on: Cheetos understands its audience http://www.merlotmarketing.com/TheWaterCooler/archives/96 Just another WordPress weblog Tue, 07 Sep 2010 04:15:42 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Robert http://www.merlotmarketing.com/TheWaterCooler/archives/96#comment-132 Robert Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:53:11 +0000 http://www.merlotmarketing.com/TheWaterCooler/archives/96#comment-132 I think there is a difference here that needs to be pointed out. The idea of creating "the Orange Underground" (I have seen the commercials and LOVED them) may or may not impact sales. Which i would assume is the end desire of most ad campaigns. Cheetos is creating an idea of "cool" it is very Fight Club-esque and would, as far as conventional wisdom goes, appeal to their target market (kids). So there are people who do these little mischevious things, (the RAoCs) but does that cause an increase in sales enough to make it worth their while? While integrating multiple points of contact with the same audience (Blogspot, YouTube and the website itself) perhaps this just becomes a venue of entertainment rather than a sales driving tool. And it could theoretically be argued that Cheetos is using its audience to create content which is a good thing, but was the initial investment in the Orange Underground campaign worth having users generate content to users? I guess what I am saying is that while it is an inventive campaign, utilizing a wide variety of "new media" to reach its target audience. Does it drive sales? does it make an impact on the bottom line? After all isn't that the idea? I think there is a difference here that needs to be pointed out. The idea of creating “the Orange Underground” (I have seen the commercials and LOVED them) may or may not impact sales. Which i would assume is the end desire of most ad campaigns.

Cheetos is creating an idea of “cool” it is very Fight Club-esque and would, as far as conventional wisdom goes, appeal to their target market (kids). So there are people who do these little mischevious things, (the RAoCs) but does that cause an increase in sales enough to make it worth their while? While integrating multiple points of contact with the same audience (Blogspot, YouTube and the website itself) perhaps this just becomes a venue of entertainment rather than a sales driving tool. And it could theoretically be argued that Cheetos is using its audience to create content which is a good thing, but was the initial investment in the Orange Underground campaign worth having users generate content to users?

I guess what I am saying is that while it is an inventive campaign, utilizing a wide variety of “new media” to reach its target audience. Does it drive sales? does it make an impact on the bottom line? After all isn’t that the idea?

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