Perspectives - 2005, Issue 1

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How to Make A New Generation
of Brand Believers for the Hostess Twinkie?

It’s considered a brand icon. It’s also the subject of urban myths –myths such as it lasts forever (it has a shelf life of 25 days), contains a chemical used in embalming fluid (ridiculous!), and isn’t baked (it is). It’s the Hostess Twinkie, celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. And it has hit upon some hard times as consumers turn to healthier snacks and as many perceive the ladyfinger-shaped sponge cake with vanilla filling as, well, junk food laden with calories (160 in each) and saturated fats. It hasn’t helped that Interstate Bakeries Corp., its parent company, has been under bankruptcy protection since last September.

So how do you mold a new generation of brand believers in the Twinkie? Ketchum asked a creative group of Ketchum Midwest employees, known as ImagiNation and most in their early twenties, to offer their ideas about doing just that. Many, surprisingly, had never eaten a Twinkie. Others hadn’t had one for years. Over platefuls of Twinkies, they baked up these tasty suggestions:

  • Sample Twinkies in bars, making them fashionable with the young-adult crowd.
  • Include Twinkies in care packages for college students.
  • Develop a Twinkies wedding cake.
  • Market Twinkies for special occasions – as party favors.
  • Launch a “Save the Twinkies” campaign where people adopt a Twinkie and sport T-shirts with the “Save the Twinkies” logo.
  • Color Twinkies for the holidays.
  • Celebrate Twinkie memories, including people’s observations if the Twinkie never had been introduced.
  • Have David Letterman or Ellen deGeneres distribute Twinkies regularly on their show.
  • Hold a retro party in Los Angeles and invite retro stars with some younger celebrities.
  • Introduce a marketing campaign that busts the urban legends that surround the Twinkie and feature it on MTV to target teens and the college crowd. Get them to dispel the urban myths to their friends.
  • Write the Twinkie into a "Simpsons" script and have an obsessive Homer save the Twinkie from harm.