Kellogg

Building a brand in order to sustain its life cycle

Introduction

Kellogg is the world's largest producer of cereal products. One of its main brands is 'All-Bran'. This is such a strong brand that it decided to link other bran products to the All-Bran name. This creates a family of brands called a powerbrand structure.

Product life cycle

All products have a life cycle. This shows the stages they pass through. The normal stages begin with the launch of the product. It then grows and becomes a more mature product. As competition grows, the market could become full (saturated). It may then decline and die. If a product is a success, a business can decide to support it to extend its life cycle. Kellogg had to decide whether to do this with All-Bran.

SWOT

Kellogg wanted to be sure that the product was worth supporting. To find out they studied the market using SWOT analysis. What they found was:

• Strengths. The brand was still very strong.

• Weaknesses. The brand was not as well known as before as it had not been promoted recently. The market is narrow. The idea that a 'fibre cereal keeps you regular' no longer appeals.

• Opportunities. Demand for more healthy foods and the over 55s age group who mainly bought the product were both growing.

• Threats. Smaller brands were growing. People wanted more tasty cereals.

Research

Kellogg also carried out market research with consumers. Qualitative research worked in detail with small numbers of people. Quantitative research used surveys with a lot of consumers. The research helped Kellogg to decide how to market the brand. It chose to build on the strong brand and to bring out more tasty products. One of these is 'Bran Flakes Yoghurty'. The research also helped Kellogg decide how to promote the brand.

• Each product was labelled with the Powerbrand name ('All-Bran').

• Each packet told the buyer about all the brands in the 'family'.

• Consumers need to know that wholesome ingredients have been used. These are shown on each packet.

Feel Great in a Fortnight

This challenge was used as part of the promotion. It was to see if you feel better and more healthy by trying the brand for a fortnight. It was designed to change the message about All-Bran from 'keeps you regular' to 'makes you feel great'.

Conclusion

Kellogg's saw one of its strong brands could have an extended life cycle. It used careful research to help it decide what to do.