The Breakfast Club Initiative by Kelloggs - Assignment Example

Introduction Kellogg’s has launched the breakfast club initiative to demonstrate its socially responsible stance and to communicate with parents about how breakfast clubs could support their children. The breakfast club initiative has been supported by a communication plan that incorporates both formal and informal communications. To raise awareness about the different issues involved, the company has employed a wide range of communication channels to communicate with both internal and external stakeholders. The objective of the breakfast club campaign is to persuade the parents to teach their children that Kellogg’s is a must in their breakfast meal. Question 1 Brand personality is defined as the set of traits and characteristics that differentiate the brand from its competing brands (Pearce and Robinson, 2010). If there is a high threat of competitive rivalry in the market that a company operates in, then that company can develop a competitive edge for its product through brand personality. Brand personality can guide the development of a marketing mix and the communications process is conducted accordingly. Consumers are more comfortable with purchasing a specific brand if its personality is similar to their own. Therefore brand personality can increase a product’s market share. In order to face the competitive threat, a company and its products must develop positive public awareness. This objective is achieved through the development of a brand personality. A brand personality enables consumers to identify with a specific brand. Kellogg’s brand personality is defined by its multi-platform campaign to communicate with internal and external stakeholders. The internal stakeholders include Kellogg’s employees while the external stakeholders include schools, the media, parents, MPs and the public. Through various channels of communication, Kellogg’s promotes its brand personality of emphasizing upon the importance of breakfast to school children. This is incorporated in the ‘Help give a child a breakfast’ campaign launched in October 2011. Kellogg’s product personality is represented through its support for breakfast clubs. Important components of Kellogg’s product personality include emphasizing on the importance of breakfast, on the positive impact of breakfast clubs and its support for breakfast clubs since 1998 through Kellogg’s Corn Flakes. By combining the two concepts of brand and product personalities, the company has aimed to get its message across to the target audience. Kellogg’s brand and product personality has enabled the company to express and represent itself to the target audience. Word count: 293. Question 2 The communication concept can be defined by a process in which a sender, the source, sends a message through a channel to the receiver. The process is completed when there is feedback from the receiver to the sender so that the sender knows whether the communication was received and understood. In order to fully understand the concept, we must consider issues such as the role of the message’s source and that of the message’s audience, usually the consumer. Another issue to consider is selecting the right advertising media for sending promotional messages targeting selected consumer groups. The communication concept is also defined by understanding how to create persuasive messages so that they will be received and understood by the targeted consumer groups. Finally marketers must assess the effectiveness of the communication process. That is also a part of the communication concept. These issues are based upon the basic communication model consisting of sender, message, channel, receiver and feedback. Kellogg’s campaign is an example of how the communication concept can be defined as the basic communication model. Here Kellogg’s is the sender. The receiver consists of both the internal and external stakeholders as mentioned in the case. The message is given by the breakfast initiative. The company employed various channels or mediums which were addressable, interactive and which provided measurable response. For example, written communications were made addressable to MPs and to schools. Interactive channels of communication were also employed in the form of face-to-face. Kellog’s selected these advertising media to send the message of the breakfast club initiative to the selected consumer groups. The role of feedback has also been taken into account. So we see that Kellogg’s campaign is a good example through which to understand the communication concept. Word count: 295. Question 3 Kellogg’s influences consumer socialization by emphasizing upon the importance of breakfast to young people. To this end, they launched ‘Help give a child a breakfast’ campaign in October 2011. However, as stated in the case, the company has been active in supporting breakfast clubs in schools for many years. In this manner the company has been able to impress upon children the importance of eating a healthy breakfast prior to the start of the school day. In the process they have developed consumer skills and knowledge about the company’s products (Hill and Jones, 2007, Greenley, 1989). The process has been further enhanced by a communication plan that targets the different agents of consumer socialization such as mass media, schools and parents. Kellogg’s campaign activities have been specifically customized to communicate to them about how breakfast impacts upon young people’s behaviour, attendance and ability. Thus a multi-platform campaign has influenced the socialization process. To what extent the company will succeed in persuading the parents to teach their children about Kellogg’s campaign can only be properly assessed through feedback. Therefore the company has carried out an evaluation of its campaign. However the company has invested considerably in various campaign activities which should positively impact upon this objective of supporting the breakfast club initiative. In its communication plan, the company has targeted parents, schools, the UK government and the public. Therefore the important messages should get the right level of exposure to their intended audiences. Moreover, Kellogg’s campaign is based upon research that clearly supports the importance of breakfast to young people. Therefore Kellogg’s has a solid platform based upon which to communicate with the parents about how breakfast clubs could support their children. Guided in this manner, the company has devised the communication plan. Word count: 297. Question 4 The five advertising appeals are comparative, fear, humour, abrasive and sex (Aaker, 2004). I would apply comparative appeal to promote Dell computers. In this respect, I would make use of a wide range of communication channels to promote this product. Written communications, television and radio advertising, internet and social media, and face-to-face interactions can all be used to create comparative appeal (Fournier and Yao, 1997). The comparative appeal promotes the Dell brand by making the consumers think about lowering costs and boosting productivity when choosing Dell over competing brands. Dell’s brand provides warranties as proof of its advertising claims. This enables the consumers to make informed decisions about whether to invest in Dell or not. Comparative appeal is more effective when it comes to business-to-business advertisements (Fred, 2006). Therefore other businesses can be the targeted audience in this promotional campaign. The comparative appeal can be especially effective in a business-to-business promotional campaign because, as mentioned earlier, businesses want to lower costs and boost productivity (Goetsch and Davis, 2009). Therefore the Dell computers can be promoted based upon a brand personality that is defined by cost savings and productivity gains. The promotional campaign can create comparative appeal by communicating with the customers about how they can gain greater efficiency because Dell computers offer lower prices than its competitors are able to. The promotional campaign should also focus upon the high quality of customer support which adds to the comparative appeal. If the customers are convinced that they will get a faster response from the selling company, then they are more motivated to buy the product. The comparative appeal is best executed when the promotional campaign is targeted to the customer’s need for product functionality. Therefore the comparative appeal is particularly suited to promoting Dell computers which offer the most advanced functionality in the computer industry. Word count: 306. Conclusion The case of Kellogg’s breakfast club initiative illustrates the importance of communication in a business campaign. Through the communications process Kellogg’s has managed to get important messages across to the target audience. Thus the company has been able to define brand and product personality that influences consumer socialization. References Aaker, D. A., 2004. Strategic market management. McGraw Hill/Irwin. Fournier, S. and Yao J. L., 1997. Reviving brand loyalty: a reconceptualization within the framework of consumer-brand relationships. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 14(5), pp. 451-72. Fred, D., 2006. Strategic management: concepts and cases. Prentice Hall. Goetsch, D. L. and Davis, S., 2009. Quality management for organizational excellence: introduction to total quality. Prentice Hall. Greenley, G. E., 1989. An understanding of marketing strategy. European Journal of Marketing, 19, pp 12-16. Hill, C. and Jones, G., 2007. Strategic management theory: an integrated approach. McGraw Hill/Irwin. Pearce, J. and Robinson, R., 2010. Strategic management. McGraw Hill/Irwin. Read More