October is a month known for a lot of things. For the sport-minded, it is the beginning of hockey season, the continuation of college and pro football, and the start of major league baseball’s post-season (the road to the World Series). Also, as we learned (and wrote about) in a previous post, October is the month of 31 #ChesterOnTheDresser pranks leading to Halloween.
The back page of The Sunday New York Times brought to our attention a really cool promo that does a little play on words for the month.
The Quaker Oats Company has gone all out with a #OATOBER push which we think is pretty darn clever.
The Promo.
Curious, we got into research mode to learn more. Here’s what the company’s press release had to say:
- To kick off OATOBER, Quaker is featuring a recipe each day on its social channels and on www.quakeroatober.com, showcasing a range of hearty breakfast favorites like apple cinnamon overnight oats to snacks like energy balls, and savory dishes that incorporate oats as an ingredient, such as meatloaf and veggie burgers.
- Kicking off the month will be a consistent consumer favorite: Quaker Oatmeal Cookies.
- In total, Quaker has created more than 60 pieces of content for OATOBER across Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr to demonstrate why oats should be an essential in everyone’s diet.
- On October 3, Quaker’s Chief Creative Oatmeal Officer, Samantha (Sam) Stephens teamed-up with actress, Katie Holmes to discuss/ share favorite oatmeal recipes.
- Sam also created an ‘Oatober Bowl’ to add to the menu at OatMeals – her New York City oatmeal bar, which features 30 other oatmeal-based dishes spanning everything from Pomegranate Pistachio to Truffle RisOATto.
Do Simple Better.
It isn’t often that you’ll see a slogan from a sports-related t-shirt show up in a post about food and advertising, but here goes.
Thus spoke the coach of the Chicago Cubs baseball team, Joe Maddon. He told The Chicago Tribune:
“The more basic we can become in our approach, the more successful we’ll become.”
Now lets shift our gaze back to The Quaker Oats Company.
Their “flagship” product, Quaker Oats, has just one ingredient on its packaging: Rolled Oats.
Yet, for something so simple, you can do so much — as witnessed in the #OATOBER posts this month (year round at Pinterest and other social sites). All the company had to do was remind consumers that this pantry staple has a myriad of uses. Let your imagination run wild. Your creativity can be exercised in limitless ways. Plus, you can share your discoveries and inspire others. How cool is that?
We thought our favorite Cheetah was onto something with his 31 pranks for Halloween, but AWSI, this particular October push opens up year-round possibilities — something the company covered at the top of their NY Times full-pager:
FOR US, EVERY MONTH IS “Oatober”
Let us know what you create. Annie has already successfully incorporated toasted rolled oats into her Wednesday Waffles — Yummy!!
#SCMF
—The Gang
Bonus Content:
Did you know The Quaker Oats Company was founded in 1850? That makes it older than our entire gang with the exception of Tommie.
This Adweek story shows some of the ways The Quaker Oats Company is promoting “Oatober.” Frannie and Dossie liked it.
About Sam Stephens: We found her fascinating!
You can read about her background here as part of her Oatmeals business story.
Notable: She was an investment banker! Because she couldn’t let go of her dream to open an oatmeal shop, she spent nearly a decade making her passion finally happen. Her journey included taking classes NYU’s School of Professional Studies in Food Writing and Business Management, and eventually attending The International Culinary Center, where she became a pastry chef in 2010.
She did a TED talk which you can watch below:
And if you’d rather read her story, check out this HuffPo piece she wrote telling her story.
In 2012, I walked away from my financially secure job at an investment bank. I left a steady paycheck, paid vacations and health insurance for my dream — to open OatMeals, my café in New York City, dedicated to oatmeal.
Yes, she followed her bliss and is now inspiring others through her food and her story. We love it!!
#SCMF
Inspired Creations!
She has an interesting story too. Check out the energy bars recipe here.
#Yummy
[…] us, the next logical step is serving suggestions. We want an Oatober-esque push to show how people are consuming this mighty, mighty […]