Behind Kellogg's' first tie-up with Hershey's in India

The two legacy brands have collaborated for the launch of a chocolate cereal. Kellogg’s’ Sr. director of marketing speaks to afaqs! about the brand’s plans ahead.

Kellogg’s has teamed up with Hershey’s to launch a new Chocos variant to woo Indian kids. Named ‘Kellogg’s Hershey’s Chocos’, the heart-shaped cereals see the two legacy brands come together for the first time in Indian market.

The brand’s breakfast cereal offerings have found a grand reception in India, with the brand topping the charts in market share within the category, according to market research firm Mordor Intelligence. The space is filled with tough competitors in Nestle, PepsiCo, Bagrry’s, and others. 

Kellogg’s flagship brand, Chocos, has been in the Indian market for three decades. And over the years, the cereal has really struck a chord with Indian kids. According to the brand’s Sr. director of marketing, South Asia, Vinay Subramanyam, as part of the expansion strategy, the brand is constantly in search of new and innovative avenues to get the consumers to engage with food.

The launch of the new variant has also come with a dedicated TVC, that carries the vintage Kellogg’s kid and his dog friend, enjoying their box of new Chocos.

The collaboration between the two brands comes just in time for the reopening of schools, a time of the year when Kellogg’s puts its creative gear on. Speaking on the new launch, Subramanyam says, “(With the schools opening up) you're going to have busy mornings in every home where children are rushing to get to school, having very quick breakfast. We have a history of innovating around this time.”

The collab with Hershey’s, as per Subramanyam, is aimed at bringing Hershey’s’ iconic chocolate taste to the kids, in the form of cereal. “it's a new cereal, and is designed to deliver the taste of Hershey's in a cereal format. So that is the attempt in my book. It's also a great collaboration from a food development perspective, where we have spent some reasonable amount of time to ensure that we are able to crack a food that is able to deliver the Hershey's experience.”

With the food products aimed at kids, the challenge in advertising is to make the ads lovable for kids, while also catering to the health and nutritional reservations of parents. At the end of the day, it is the parents that make the purchase. So, how does Kellogg’s strike the balance with its creatives? 

Subramanyam points out, “There are two aspects to consumption of any kid-based cereal that we have seen. We must make sure that our product and our communication is something that is well received by children. And we must make sure that we adhere to nutrition credentials and the nutritional guidelines that we have set out as Kellogg's, so that moms feel confident and happy giving it to children.”

As part of the new launch, the brand is looking at a fairly intensive integrated media plan. Subramanyam reveals that the new offering will be promoted with the TVC, with a lot of emphasis on sampling. 

“We are going to give more than one and a half million packs of this product as samples to consumers because we believe that once people try it, they will definitely want to buy it again. We are also doing some interesting things in the kid influencer space, and mobile gaming.”

The brand is also planning to tie up with celebrity moms and celebrity chefs to build awareness. 

In terms of distributions of sales, the brand has seen a healthy proportion of revenue coming from both e-commerce and physical retail stores. “We are obviously an urban centric brand, right. So, for us every channel is important. Whether it is organized trade in terms of modern trade, retail, e-commerce or whether it is general trade.”