Saturday morning cartoons and sugary cereal are a tradition dating back to the dark ages of our childhood. It is a perfect example of advertiser needs trumping customer concern; they want to sell cereal to your kids without regard to your dietary standards. Till now.
Kellogg’s is now increasing the nutritional value of their kids cereal and snacks–products which represent 27% of Kellogg’s product line. And, if they can’t be fixed, Kellogg’s will stop marketing them. They’re also making immediate changes to online promotion of all products in conjunction with this initiative.
Score another win for the age of alignment. Parents and advocacy groups have argued for years about concern for child obesity. So, why now? David Mackay, Kellogg’s president and CEO, says increasing concerns about marketing to children prompted the action. But, haven’t those protests been going on for years?
A company’s ability to push product is declining as consumer messaging control increases. Kellogg’s read the corn flakes and realized they had to align with consumer concern or risk losing it all. Getting a durable bond from alignment demands an authentic shift. The authenticity of Kellogg’s alignment will determine its success.
Now, if we could only get the TV people to fall in line with Saturday morning programming with higher nutritional value for young minds.
[Originally published 15 June 2007]
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