Friday, August 9, 2013

The Twinkie Is Back...

Known as the "Golden Sponge Cake with Creamy Filling," Twinkies are an American favorite but their parent company Hostess filed Chapter 11 Bankruptcy on May 4, 2011. While many Americans were devastated to learn that an American classic would no longer be available on supermarket shelves. The company believed many Americans migrated to healthier foods, to other Americans saying goodbye to such an iconic brand was an end of an era because many people equate Twinkies with their childhood. But the mourning came to an end quickly when it was announced in March that Hostess would have new owners. A few months later new management announced that Twinkies (and other Hostess brands such as CupCakes) would return to stores nationwide starting in mid July. So was this a victory for the product or a new way to re-launch the product? I honestly don't know but it makes me wonder...
According to Hannah Arnold, a principal at LAK Public Relations stated,  “It was clear that America wanted this product back on the shelf and that set the stage for a fully integrated advertising/PR/guerilla marketing campaign....We had every one of those elements in play"  And that's exactly what they did to relaunch this product.  The relaunch campaign, dubbed “The Sweetest Comeback in the History of Ever,” featured pre-launch PR and marketing programs, including a new website with a countdown to the launch and street teams that hit some major markets (Chicago, Los Angeles and New York) to create hype. Self-made Vine videos around the theme of “Prepare Your Cakeface” also were created to publicity about the product. I think its better than a person dressed as a Twinkie on the street waving a sign or handing out flyers. Am I right? I always get a giggle  when I see someone dressed up in a costume trying to get a people in that store. But than I wonder does that form of marketing and advertising actually work? Or is it just to mock marketing and advertising in our society? At least Twinkie was smart enough not to do that to relaunch the product and used a much more modern approach such as social media marketing. I think their heading in the right direction and only time will tell. And the excitement from the public doesn't hurt either.

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