A case of Brand Over-extension?
Now, what do you think of when I say “Kellogg’s Cornflakes” or “Frosted Flakes”? Maybe breakfast, send-the-kids-off-to-school…generally the warm fuzzy young-family feel. So you might expect Kellogg’s to tie up with back-to-school-campaigns, tupperware, SUV, stationery, and all that.
But it was a surprise when I saw the new ‘Premium Licensed Apparel’ from Kellogg’s called ‘Under the Hood‘:
It is either the most innovative, surprising and daring reach-out, or (what I think) a really-awkward brand extension into a mood/category that is in the almost direct contradiction to the original brand image. Maybe a marketer looked at the demographics buying the cereals and thought – “Hey this group buys quite substantial amount – let’s appeal to them!”.
To me though, it seems like this will erode the principle brand equity that Kellogg’s has been building over the years. The street and almost ‘gangsta’ feel is really awkward on Kellogg’s. But who knows – maybe out there, Tony the Tiger can give you some street cred!
