Pop Goes the Packaging Strategy

I don’t know about you, but I think that Corn Pops have a brand that could only appeal to a 10-year-old boy. With any luck, that was the exact intention of the marketing team working on the project.

But there I was last night at the supermarket, shopping for the Boo Berry I knew I’d be craving this morning, and out of the brain-numbing chaotic train wreck that is the cereal aisle, something leapt out at me. The three boxes of Kellogg’s Pops (formerly Corn Pops, originally Sugar Pops) you see pictured above. Obviously, one of those short overlaps where a manufacturer is phasing in new packaging, but some of the old boxes are still left on the shelf. Didn’t surprise me much, considering that each time I shop for cereal, I barely recognize any of the old packaging, because it changes so quickly. But this time was different. Three boxes, all distinct, all on the shelf at the same time? Investigation (and grainy camera phone pictures) were required.

Turns out there’s a new marketing strategy afoot deep within the hallowed halls of Kellogg’s. Apparently, feeling that they had not the ability to change the packaging out quickly enough to satisfy the ADD attention span of their pre-teen market, they released four different boxes of Pops at the same time. That’s right: four different packages, four different logos. It’s brand suicide, right? You can almost hear the equity draining into the gutter. How will the kids know what to hassle their parents into buying?

But wait! Maybe they’re on to something. Here’s the market spin from the side of the box: “Welcome to the bold new look of Kellogg’s Pops. 4 unique boxes that reflect your bold, individual style & attitude. We are proud of our look, but more importantly we are proud of our…Big Yellow Taste…Enjoy!” (I always wondered what “yellow” would taste like.) To solidify an understanding of the market they’re after, the four boxes are named: Gaming, Hip-Hop, Snow and Skate. (Need more gratuitous, heavy-handed marketing for an audience that you’re not part of? You can always visit the website.)

Suspicions abound that this bold stroke was implemented because Kellogg’s was losing significant market share to other brands and generics. But an argument could certainly be made that their real brand equity resides simply in the name POPS, rather than the myriad logos they’ve employed over the years. So, last ditch life-saving effort or not, perhaps they’ve found a workable strategy. If your audience is MTV-raised, Tony Hawk wannabe, pre-pubescent Nintend00ds, it could be posited that they value constant, stimulating change over stability and the resulting reassuring trustworthiness.

As outsiders, I don’t think we’ll ever get enough empirical evidence to determine if Kellogg’s strategy was successful. I’ll be keeping a keen eye on the cereal shelves to see how long these new packages are around. We’ll know a little something if we see them disappear quickly, or conversely, see other cereals trying a similar tactic. But what I’m most interested in are the thoughts of the greater design community. Is this a genius stroke, or just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic?

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