Kellogg's! From Breakfast Table to Iconic Brand Legacy

As I have shared in my last articles I will explain branding how branding works and what marketing strategies brands use to sustain themselves in the market. Today, I will share about the brand Kellogg's which started its journey in 1906 and is still known as a trustworthy brand.?

The core elements that Kellogg used in their branding were Cognitive Dissonance using words like “healthier alternatives for breakfast", Behavioural Economics like providing promotions, loyalty programs, and cross promotions using an emotional drive approach, and Brand Loyalty consistency in quality, family centric, and ability to adapt and foster generational loyalty.?

Let's see how Kellogg's sustains its branding while learning its marketing journey. Its journey started in 1906, with a mission to create a healthy, nutritious breakfast. They capitalized on the emerging awareness of health in the early 20th century and introduced ready-to-eat cereals with their first product Kellogg's Corn Flakes, which was a revolutionary idea by catering the Maslow's hierarchy of needs addressing phycologically (Nutritions) and self-esteem needs (Health Conscious). Infusing marketing tactics of creating a unique product that differentiates in the market by focusing on health and using slogans like “The Original The Best” creating trust through consistency in quality.?

As Kellogg's started to grow competitors emerged the market was saturated and economic stability was there due to the Great Depression in the 1930s. Analyzing the psychology of the current scenario shift in that tough economic tunes by refining its marketing position to breakfast as an essential meal of the day using a psychological strategy of "survival" along with using marketing tactics of doubling its budget and pioneering radio advertising with the tagline of Snap! Crackle! And Pop! ?for rice krispie.?

Then the war started, during World War 2, Kellogg's used factories to produce rations for soldiers. Post-war they leverage the booming economy and the baby boomer by catering to the needs of families and children. They allied with family values and created a sense of belonging and wholesome breakfast understanding the market needs. They used colorful charters like “Toni the Tiger” for frosted flakes, to attract the children, while adults were drawn to claim vitamins and minerals blending into emotional and rational appeals. Using “charter branding” in humans' subconscious mind.

As time passed the market preference changed and Kellogg's began to notice a downward trend in the graphs. They understand the market which prefers more healthier choices like yogurts and granola. So they introduced and repositioned themselves by introducing Special K and All-Bran, focusing on weight management and fiber. They used marketing tactics to target women with campaigns like Kellogg's Special K Challenge. Mostly, the women prefer to choose the food elements for their kids, and families while providing healthier choices. So targeting the women was the best strategy they used at the moment. As it was the era in which women were more into decision-making.?

In the early 2000’s the concept of traditional breakfast started to decline due to the grab-and-go option of snacks and shift the families into busy and professional lifestyles with healthier choices. For this, Kellogg's used psychological words like “Time Efficiency” and variety and shifted its marketing strategy into a behavioral segment tuned to On-The-Go Products With Healthy Lifestyles, introducing products like Pringles and snacks.

Let's conclude it!?

As we can see the brand is consistent in its quality and mission the only thing that keeps on changing is its marketing strategies from giving healthier choices to fostering into survival mood during World War 2, then catering to families and a sense of belonging post-war. Changing it into healthier alternatives once there was behavioral change and improvising themselves accordingly into adapting generational changes into more professionalism and time efficiency. It sums up that the chunks of marketing strategies as per the current scenarios make it whole into branding.?

I will be sharing the detailed marketing strategies used by Kellogg's so we can understand the core they used to make themselves into a brand and to learn what marketing tactics should be used when making a brand and how to cater to marketing strategies when we are adapting new generational behavioral change.