Adgully Exclusive | Focusing on growing the category: Kellogg India's Vikram Bahl

In India, Kellogg is known for its flagship brand Kellogg's Corn Flakes with its range of five variants positioned to all members of the family. Kellogg's Chocos with its three variants and Kellogg's Honey Loops, which was launched in 2009, are positioned in the market for kids.

In 2008, Kellogg India launched its biggest cereal brand globally, Kellogg's Special K that helps women to manage weight in a simple and healthy way. This offering with its new campaign and brand ambassador is also offering Lara's fitness Yoga DVD with a pack of Special K.

Adgully caught up with Vikram Bahl, Director Marketing, Kellogg India, to know more about the new campaign and the product's growing market share.

Talking about the campaign, he says, "Special K is a low fat breakfast, which is very nutritious. It is a whole-grain breakfast; it is for the woman of today. For a woman of substance, and when we looked around for a woman who would symbolize all of this Lara seem to be the right choice. Also Lara has come out with her range of fitness DVDs and we have associated with that as well. So we are giving a CD free with a pack of Special K, which gives our consumers a great offer of choosing healthy food and also a fitness workout at the same time"

The company launched Special K in India in 2008 and it is one of the leading brands in its range of products. The product is targeted at women and women who are conscious about their health and fitness and are ready to make a change in their lifestyles.

Elaborating on the product's communication strategy, Bahl says, "The campaign has just been out through various forms of media with Lara as our brand ambassador. We believe that for every Indian women appreciation matters even more when it comes from their loved ones and our communication conveys exactly this thought. Our entire campaign is built around the idea that 'Special K gets you appreciation from your loved ones'."

"We felt in India having a celebrity as a brand ambassador made a lot of sense, and having Lara made all the more sense as she is very relevant to the brand's identity," he adds.

Kellogg always believes in market research before launching a brand, so the company has tested the proposition of the brand, tested the food and also how well Lara works for the brand. "So significant amount of research has gone into this campaign and also into getting a new ambassador on board," Bahl asserts.

India is still a country where breakfast cereals are very nascent, so that clearly has been the biggest challenge for the brand. However, acknowledging this fact Bahl says that K Special is a great match since it addresses such an important need and that is why Kellogg has seen such growth for this product.

He further adds, "Overall our biggest challenge gas been the build the category. So we have been focusing on how we can grow the category and educate the consumers on the benefits of the breakfast cereal. Kellogg has a market share of plus 75% in the breakfast cereal category in India."

Bahl adds while signing off, "TV is our lead medium, but gradually we are getting into the other media as well and exploring the utilisation of digital media. Moreover our distribution channels reach out to the Tier2 and Tier 3 cities, and they are an important contributor to our growth." | By Prabha Hegde [prabha(at)adgully.com]