Two breakfast classics, Pop-Tarts and Cream of Wheat, are each getting makeovers.
Kellogg’s has kicked off a new CRM and loyalty program, called “Sprinklings,” for Pop-Tarts as part of a push to better engage families and particularly moms with kids age six to 11.
The new program, which launched earlier this month, also includes a new Pop-Tarts brand campaign. Sprinklings will have an online presence, couched in the Pop-Tarts “Mom” site, and will use e-mail and direct mail to communicate with member moms.
Rivet, a marketing and communications agency that has been working withKellogg’s since 2007, was tapped to manage Sprinklings in November following a formal RFP.
The agency’s Chicago office is working closely with the Leo Burnett agency, also of Chicago, which is heading up the brand campaign portion of the Pop-Tarts effort. The Pop-Tarts mom push includes TV, print and digital elements. Print ads will be used to drive moms to the site.
“Because Pop-Tarts is launching a new brand campaign targeted at moms, [Sprinklings] is designed to engage moms and families through relevant and targeted communications,” explained Julie Howe, VP and account director at Rivet. “It reaches out to moms through a variety of channels and also is supported with above-the-line media.”
A Kellogg’s representative declined to comment for this story.
Sprinklings and the new Pop-Tarts “Moms” site have a distinctly retro, cartoony feel, complete with an old-fashioned storefront. The site offers coupons, activities, a “Bus Stop Weather” daily forecast and a highly visible Sprinklings sign-up link.
Along with direct mail and e-mail, Sprinklings members will receive product previews and samples. In year two of the program, Howe said, Kellogg’s will solicit feedback on these offers so that consumers can have a say in future Pop-Tart releases.
For now, however, the goals for the campaign are simple, Howe said. “We want moms to try out some of the activities we suggest or try new products and give us feedback,” she said. “We’re also looking for coupon redemption.”
For Cream of Wheat, the idea behind its repositioning is to reintroduce the brand to the public.
The creative plays on the idea of triggering a nostalgic emotion for people who may have grown up eating the hot cereal, but have let their relationship with the product falter over the years. The idea is that these parents will pick it up again and give it to their own kids.
The brand recently selected Red Bank, NJ-based Spitball Advertising & Creative Shop to run a new national print campaign that integrates with the Web.
“We wanted to play on the nostalgic memory that consumers might have of the cereal, but make it more modern and appetizing,” said Steve Bailey, creative director/co-founder of Spitball Advertising.
The creative calls consumers to remember how they like to eat their Cream of Wheat; for example, with strawberries or maple syrup. The print ad, which so far has run in the presidential inauguration issue of People magazine, promotes the Web site, CreamofWheat.com, at which customers can opt-in to receive a free sample and can vote on their favorite item to mix into Cream of Wheat.
“When we did research about the brand, we found out that people liked to talk about what they mixed into the cereal, so we wanted to play on this,” added Bailey.
