The following is an analysis on the marketing of the breakfast cereal Crunchy Nut Cornflakes (CNC) made by the Kellogg’s company. The analysis will cover details on the products life cycle, what the actual product entails, whom it is being targeted for and the various strategies used to market the product. The purpose of this study is to analyse a company such as Kellogg’s on one of their products, determine what exactly is involved in the marketing strategy and the marketing process of a product.
Crunchy Nut Cornflakes is a well-established product of Kellogg’s as it has been around for some time it is truly in the maturity stage of its product life cycle. Having said that it does not appear that Kellogg’s is ready to discontinue the making of crunchy nut just yet, having only recently released another advertising campaign for the cereal. Due to the later stage of its life cycle it is evident that Kellogg’s are not promoting heavily as it would for say a launch of a new product, perhaps then the lack of toys or competitions associated with the product.
Kellogg’s class Crunchy Nut Cornflakes as a nutritional breakfast cereal, having no preservatives, artificial colours, flavours, high in carbohydrates, good source of iron and containing five vitamins including folate. However a report from Choice magazine produced in April found Crunchy Nut had less than 5% fibre and was high in sugar, rating poorly compared to other nutritional type cereals. This then would suggest that Crunchy Nut is more likely to be your average type breakfast cereal rather than a specifically nutritional cereal, although containing some healthy ingredients.
When actually purchasing Crunchy Nut Cornflakes the consumer is choosing a well established brand from a very well known company, in this case a cereal contained in bright golden 675g box. The packaging itself is labelled brightly and a picture has been placed to show what the product looks like when served as suggested, this in itself leaves little to be discovered once the box is opened. Except of course the taste, which is most assumingly the reason why any crunchy nut fan chooses said cereal.
Additional consumer services and benefits built in to CNC would be the nutritional tables printed on the packaging and details of numbers and addresses to contact for further information. These additions to the humble cereal box are now quite standard and give the consumer some piece of mind as to what it is they are actually eating. Kellogg’s take a step further by listing a website which offers various nutritional information and the importance of eating breakfast.
The market for breakfast cereals/meals is vast and varied in a word huge, so CNC has a great deal of competitors to fight against for survival. Starting with direct competitors would be in actual fact all cereals, as they all line up on the shelf found in the breakfast cereal isle very little separates them. Wether it be a healthy choice or a sweet taste sensation that may not be of great dietary benefit for you, they are all still competing for the consumer’s dollar and a long and healthy product life cycle. On an indirect note would be anything people will choose to eat for breakfast have be it bacon and eggs to a muesli snack bar, it is an alternative that will determine how much cereal if any is purchased and consumed. Generally eggs, bacon, toast or even fruit juice won’t be found in the cereal isle, but they are still in competition due to the time of day they are usually consumed breakfast.
Crunchy Nut Cornflakes latest media campaign has certainly taken on a new demographic segmentation and as a result become more specific as to which the target audience is. The latest television advertisements depict late twenty to thirty-year-old professionals who are just nuts about CNC, with the catch phrase ‘must be another crunchy nut’. Immediately this suggests the target for this campaign is professionals in this age bracket, who aren’t looking for a healthy choice or anything else but just CNC because they enjoy it so much. Looking at the way Kellogg’s have segmented this market it is fair to say that the consumer targeted is more of the every day type office worker of which there is a great many in present day society. They have not made any gender specific targets, have used humour to appeal to wider audience and made the commercials very short and simplistic. Although the characteristics of the demographic chosen are not typical of the family type scene having breakfast together the concept is appealing to a large part of the market through the relating situations used in the commercials.
The positioning of Crunchy Nut Cornflakes in the way it is defined by consumers is really a sweet tasting alternative form of cornflakes. It is usually priced higher than most other cereals, and therefore judged more as a treat more than a nutritional supplement. Despite the reassurance made by Kellogg’s on its website most of the consumer public as well as Choice magazine do not rate CNC as a nutritious cereal. Therefore CNC is really viewed as a good tasting cereal that is enjoyable to eat but not one that is crucial to maintaining a well balanced diet.
ProductPricePlacePromotionPeopleProcesses EconomicTechnologicalPoliticalCultural Buyercharacteristics BuyerDecisionprocess Product and serviceSelectionBrand selectionDealer choiceReseller selection Repurchase intervalsPurchase amount
Taking the model of consumer behaviour used in the lecture and also the text Marketing 5th edition Kotler, Brown, Adam, Armstrong, it illustrates the process the consumer or buyer takes to make a decision to purchase. Relating this to Crunchy Nut Cornflakes you have the marketing stimuli basically the cereal slightly higher priced, viewed as a small luxury promoted through the media in television and print. There is some slight cultural stimuli due to the targeting aimed at white collared workers. With just about any consumer decision the economic stimulus is considered so to breakfast cereal, “can I afford it or should I buy something less expensive?”. This all comes together in the Buyer’s black box this is where the Buyer’s response is formed and how the stimuli effected the buyer. As CNC is well established it is evident that Kellogg’s has established what works and what does not, such things as price, placement, promotions and the product itself has all been examined. Kellogg’s obviously knows that charging too much and aiming CNC at the wrong segmentation will harm sales, therefore this is then reflected in the conservative approach taken in marketing and promotion.
In conclusion the marketing of Crunchy Nut Cornflakes is specific meaning it is aimed at a certain type of consumer. Despite breakfast being eaten by almost anyone and everyone Kellogg’s have chosen to go to one type of consumer, this may seem to limit buyers but in actual fact it could possibly create a market not resourced by Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut Cornflakes in the past. The product is a simple cornflake with honey and nuts yet it is marketed as something only certain people crave. The breakfast market is crowded yet there are still a number of segments in which products can find their place and succeed in when marketed with purpose and with a definite target in mind.
