MANILA – In a sea of cookie brands that compete in the Philippine market—how do you make an impact?
Lemon Square decided to maximize the digital space to launch its first cookie brand, Cookie Says, to reach its target market of teenagers and yuppies.
The cookie sandwiches come in never-before-tasted flavor combinations and have positive messages printed on them–more than 100 unique pick-me-uppers that are then packed together randomly.
Lemon Square’s marketing team led by Marketing Director, Ging Gozar, came up with the idea to launch a digital campaign for the brand.
Paulo Parel, Havas Ortega’s Account Director assigned to the brand, says that, “Initially, we were just supposed to do page posts to create awareness for Cookie Says.” But the challenge to make a creative and shareable take on the product was too strong and it then evolved. “How can the product become an instrument to make a meaningful connection between two people?” wondered Marion Esquillo, Senior Copywriter. “Our main inspiration was the product itself precisely because of what it can do and mean to a lot of people.”
Thus, the story of Caloy was born. A simple love story made unique with the use of Cookie Says products as love notes to express his admiration and affection for his crush.
Touching on the Filipinos’ romantic side and thirst for kilig, the two-minute video introduces a seemingly typical story of a guy who likes a girl. But as it reaches the climax, just as Cookie Says provides a surprise in every pack—the story takes a surprising turn.
A week after the launch, the online reaction to the video is overwhelming: thousands of comments and shares, more than 200 messages and almost two million views on Facebook alone. Much of the comments laud the positive portrayal of a sector of society that does not always receive attention and also expressing appreciation for the very moving storyline.
“The inherent quality of this product, outside of providing you a delicious snack, is it allows you more creativity and more expression. The story just clicked. When the team approached me with the idea, I immediately loved it,” says Tony Sarmiento, Havas Ortega’s Chief Collaborator and Managing Partner.
Sarmiento acknowledges that it took a lot of guts for the client to take a chance on that. “The opportunity was there and the message of accepting differences and allowing people to express themselves is timely. We love working with clients who are willing to take this kind of risk and we’re happy that it paid off.”
“It’s certainly different from what Lemon Square has done over the years,” Esquillo notes. There is already a clamor from Facebook for more stories (and videos) to follow this series. “And it started from this germ of an idea that is product- and human-centric.”
What’s next? “We want to find more stories and to find opportunities for people to share stories on how they use the cookie to express themselves,” Sarmiento says.
To view the video and find out more updates from Cookie Says, follow Lemon Square on Facebook.
