Kellogg launches "healthy" Coco Pops
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Kellogg has revealed a new low-salt, low-sugar Coco Pops cereal as part of its efforts to reformulate its products to meet FSA regulations, but still won’t advertise the product to kids.
The Coco Pops Choc ‘n’ Roll lunch will be supported with a £3m advertising camapaign targeting mums.
Peter Harrison Kellogg’s interim head of marketing, says that while the product’s nutrient credentials mean Kellogg could advertise it to children, Kellogg has taken the decision to maintain its strategy of advertising to mums.
The campaign will include a 30-second TV ad, press and outdoor advertising, created by Leo Burnett, as well as an information led website designed for parents.
The fortified cereal, which is available now, meets the FSA nutrient profile and is classified as green traffic light food because it is made with wholegrain, is high in fibre, low in saturated fat and is a source of iron, calcium, B Vitamins and vitamin D.
Kellogg claims that Coco Pops Choc ‘n’ Roll contains less sugar than rival cereals such as Nestlé’s Coco Shreddies and Nesquik and Honey Monster Foods’ Sugar Puffs and less salt than Nestlé’s Cheerios and Shreddies and will be sold at a lower price than rivals and other Coco Pops variants.
Advertising will maintain “recognisable elements” of Coco Pops’ brand marketing and will feature Coco the Coco Pops monkey character, rather than just focussing on the nutritional benefits.
Henderson says: “Coco Pops is a fun brand and we’re not suddenly going to push a straight nutritional message.”
Greg Peterson, Kellogg UK Managing director, adds: “We are informing parents about the options and letting them make the choice.”
Kellogg also says it plans to relaunch a reformulated version of Coco Pops Moons and Stars that meets the FSA profile next year and it will reduce the sugar in the entire Coco Pops range by mid-2011.
Harrison adds that Choc ‘n’ Roll reflects the direction Kellogg is taking the rest of the Coco Pop product range in the next few years.
Kellogg was criticised last year for advertising Coco Pops directly to children outside schools but Henderson says that the company has put processes in place to ensure that it no longer places advertising in inappropriate locations targeting children.
It follows an ongoing salt reduction programme that ahs seen Kellogg reduce the salt in its cereals by 50% over the past year.
YouGov Insight:
· 10 of the top 20 cereal brands surveyed by The Grocer were made by Kellogg’s and of these, 6 were in the top 10.
· Between 2006 and 2009, Kellogg’s has consistently accounted for the largest share of above-the-line advertising in the UK for this category.
· Special K is Kellogg’s top performing brand in the UK. Sales value were up by 8% in 2009, thanks to strong niche positioning, sustained innovation and consistent advertising and promotion support.
· Following sustained pressure from campaigning health groups and the FSA, Kellogg’s began to cut the amount of salt in Corn Flakes, Coco Pops, Ricicles, Frosties, Rice Krispies and Crunchy Nut products in Spring 2010.
· The salt content in most of these ranges will be cut by a third or more so that none of its iconic cereal brands will now be classed as ‘red’ (high) for salt using the Food Standard’s Agencies Traffic Light food labelling scheme.
Readers' comments (3)
Cliff Walton | Wed, 4 Aug 2010 1:05 pm
Right! Better get the kids off their fruit and bran flakes and onto the 'healthy' new Coco Pops.
I would doubt that Kellogg use the adjective to describe their initiative so maybe it's a little misleading to use it in your headline.
I guess 'healthier' or 'less unhealthy' didn't have the same ring!
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Jon | Wed, 4 Aug 2010 9:20 pm
I'm not sure what kind of childhood you had Cliff but there was no way in the world you could get me to eat fruit and bran flakes as a kid. As far as a child's diet goes, whole wheat, fiber, calcium, iron, and vitamins in a cereal they like to eat sounds pretty good to me.
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Jaymin Acharya | Thu, 5 Aug 2010 1:10 am
I believe the useage of healthy in the feature to decribe Kellogs Coco Pops, denotes choice, rather a more informed one. To choose or not to choose.There are many children who would struggle to ingest fibre products, as many do have a rather card board taste. Personally....I'd rather have a bowl of Coco Pops.(lol)
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