Vinay Subramanyam decodes new Kellogg’s Hershey’s Chocos proposition

Kellogg’s and Hershey’s, two globally loved iconic companies, have recently teamed up to launch the new Kellogg’s Hershey’s Chocos. Through a strategic licensing partnership with Hershey’s, Kellogg India is introducing a co-branded Chocos cereal variant to provide consumers with a new chocolatey experience.

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The launch is being supported by a Pan-India campaign that will span over two months. The launch TVC of Kellogg’s Hershey’s Chocos revolves around a young kid and his dog friend, who together express their excitement and love for the new Chocos variant through an engaging conversation. The campaign has been conceptualised by Ogilvy India.

In conversation with Adgully, Vinay Subramanyam, Senior Director of Marketing, Kellogg South Asia, speaks about evolving consumer preferences influencing the development and marketing of Kellogg’s products, the creative idea behind the campaign for Kellogg’s Hershey’s Chocos, and more.

How have the evolving consumer preferences influenced the development and marketing of Kellogg’s products, especially in the context of the South Asian market?

There are a couple of consumer trends that we picked up which went into the genesis of the making of this particular launch of Kellogg Hershey’s Chocos. The first is that we are seeing a lot of trends – maybe this is post-COVID – on mood upliftment and people are looking for food as a source of uplifting their mood. Therefore, making sure to put together a very delightful, chocolatey cereal was part of the plans and that’s how that came about. At the same time, what we are seeing from consumers more and more is the propensity to try new things and the exploration that they do to check what’s new in the market. That’s a trend that we are picking and, therefore, a lot of our brand work and product development work emanates from these two insights and that has culminated in this particular product launch.

Could you elaborate on the creative thought behind the launch TVC for Kellogg’s Hershey’s Chocos?

One of the things that we believe in as marketers is that there are certain brand assets that we create which we hold on to for long periods of time, so that they become part of memory structures for consumers. So, the dog and child narrative is something that is common to Kellogg’s Chocos advertising for almost four years now. Therefore, that’s something that continues. While we have something which we have preserved from the past, the real difference in this particular commercial is how the conversation is completely ignited by the taste of a new food.

As far as our demand generation plans are concerned, sampling is a very important leg. We are giving away one and a half million packs. We do believe that the moment you taste the food, the moment you start interacting with the food, it actually brings up unexpected conversations, and what is unexpected about the conversation here is a dog actually talking to his friend and asking how it is. So, that’s really the power of food. It can stimulate and ignite interesting conversations around us, and that is the insight behind the ad.

How is Kellogg planning to leverage digital marketing and social media platforms to reach and connect with its target audience?

It’s an integrated media campaign. You will see the commercials on TV as well as on digital. There is a fair amount of work that’s happening in the space of kid influencers, celebrity moms and celebrity chefs. So, influencer marketing is something that we are looking at to create awareness about this launch, especially with the mothers who will get to know about this particular launch through this initiative.

An interesting thing that we are doing is with mobile gaming, where we will have a customised game that children can play and also watch the ads on gaming platforms.

Thus, there are a gamut of the things that we are doing to ensure that irrespective of being on various kinds of media, the awareness and the engagement of the brand comes through.

In terms of market expansion, are there any plans to introduce the new product in other regions outside of South Asia?

This particular Kellogg’s Hershey’s Chocos that we have launched is an India-specific initiative.

How does Kellogg’s aim to differentiate its new offering from the other similar products in the market and create a unique value proposition for consumers?

There are two ways in which we differentiate our food. One is what we are in terms of the food that we are in the minds of our consumers. In this case, it’s offering a chocolaty fun experience. Second is how we identify ourselves. Consumers are used to seeing a lot of products from us, but what they are not used to seeing is a very interesting association between two brands that were unlikely to come together. The fact that two iconic brands – Hershey’s and Kellogg’s – have come together in the first place make for an unexpected treat. The moment you hear about it, there’s a smile on the face of the consumers and that in itself is a big differentiator.