Research Outline

Oscar Mayer Brand Tracking

Goals

To identify information surrounding the Oscar Mayer brand and sub-brands, that would typically be associated with a brand tracker.

Early Findings

Brand Tracker Metrics

  • Common metrics found in brand tracking studies are awareness, loyalty, perceived quality, and brand attributes and associations.

Awareness

  • Awareness of the Oscar Mayer brand is nearly 100%.
  • A recent survey from YouGov notes that 97% of nearly 7,500 US respondents claim to be aware of the brand.
  • The brand was rated 40th most famous in the United States.

Brand Perceptions

  • 65% of respondents have a positive impression of the brand, with the brand ranked as the 78th most popular food and snack brand in the United States.
  • The brand is more popular among women and baby boomers.
  • In 2017, the brand reformulated its product portfolio to eliminate nitrates, artificial ingredients and by products, to increase brand relevance and reassure consumers about its health benefits.
  • In 2019, Kraft Heinz, who owns Oscar Mayer, said the value of some of its key brands, including Oscar Mayer, were significantly lower than previously.

Brand Associations

  • Those who feel positively toward Oscar Mayer associate the brand most closely with being a good value for the money, well-made, familiar, and classic. Some feel the brand is expensive.

Consumer Sentiment and Reviews

  • Across 929 reviews on Facebook, Oscar Mayer receives a fairly low rating of 2.9/5.0.
  • Specific product reviews are mixed. A sample positive review focuses on the brand affordability and variety: "I love their variety of affordable luncheon meats, and their hot dogs are the best." A sample negative review reflects on a decline in the taste delivery over time: "the products are not what they use to be thick bacon paper thin bologna gets thinner all the time."

Summary of Early Findings Relevant to the Goals

  • We were able to glean some information about Oscar Mayer brand perceptions from public surveys, company press releases, news articles, and consumer reviews, which point to a decline in brand perceptions and equity over time as a result of underdelivery on taste and an inability to create a healthier brand perception.
  • We found that the brand does have extremely strong awareness and it has maintained a somewhat loyal following due to the brand familiarity and perceived affordability.
  • Given that most information surrounding brand tracking is typically not publicly available (custom brand research can cost upwards of $100,000), we attempted to leverage publicly available syndicated brand health trackers (such as Harris Poll Equitrend) to find additional brand tracking information around Oscar Mayer. However, the brand was not highlighted in the publicly available Equitrend information, which may be due to its somewhat less prominent perceptions.
  • Finally, Oscar Mayer does not have sub-brands (falling under the Kraft Heinz umbrella), but it does offer a wide range of products, such as natural meat, cold cuts, hot dogs and bacon.
  • Our next steps reflect the information we were able to uncover in early research.