Kellogg Company started the journey from 1906 and at present it is the most popular corn flake brand of the globe. The company has identified consumer behavior accurately across international border, it us a true fact that Kellogg’s has never compromised with quality of the corns and the cereals but at the same time it has successfully identified the consumer behavior. Though the basic demand of the consumers remain same across the world but values, behavior and attitudes often largely differ. It is only possible for a company to promote its product and adjust them after studying the consumer behavior. There are competitors as well who have specific marketing strategies.
In nations like United States and Australia large number of people consume corn flakes in the breakfast, in these nations Kellogg focuses on persuading people by a reputed brand name. The cognitive consistency theory explains that when a conflict of thought takes place within an individual, and from a state of confusion, the individual selects a particular option. This theory is largely used by the global companies for the purpose of making a brand or product popular.
Kellogg, the popular American Cereal Company finds through attitude research that consumers have identified price, nutrition, natural ingredients of a competitor brand. It is true that in terms of taste Kellogg corn flakes are outstanding. This has been a major reason behind popularity of the corn flakes tough the company uses genetically modified corms. Health conscious byes also consider how the cereals are grown before preparation of the corn flake. Being a consumer packaged good company, ity is necessary to carry on massive doses of marketing to keep demand of the products in specific markets. Knowing the Market pulse and the target audience is most important; otherwise the ad campaign might be in vein.
Today, on the basis of cognitive consistency theory, food marketers are focusing much on the push promotion along with consumer price promotion; it is a common scene in the food retails that Kellogg is offering a special discount to gain an edge over the competing brands. This is a nice concept of uplifting short term sales and pushing back the competitors. So, price war is a common concept adopted by the marketers to make a sudden upliftment in sales.
Use of country product and tattoo often becomes and added advantage. Over the years through different advertisements Kellogg attempted to highlight the fact that they are local and thus positioned the brand better in the local market of United States. Not only in the United States, has the packaging of Kellog cornflake been a point to learn. Global marketers can find how skillful Kellogg has packaged in French where corn flake is not that popular. Each step of preparation has been highlighted. In Sweden with the aim of localizing, Kellogg has changed the name of the cereal from corn flake to “Bran Buds. Competitive advantage arises from satisfying consumer better, faster or more cheaply than rivals. (Dawn Iacobucci, Philip Kotler 2001)
In Australia, reputed packaged food company Nestle offers Uncle Toby’s and more specifically the company highlights about health friendliness of the product. This cornflake is certified by National Heart Foundation, Australia. Cognitive Dissonance theory includes the cognitive consistency theory and use of this theory is frequently noticeable when the positive points of a product are highlighted while establishing the fact that it is better than the competitor. With this theory it is possible to alter thoughts and beliefs of the consumer. It is noticeable that while selecting a product, consumers have a tendency to look for a similar product offered by another company. Kellogg has the option of bringing the nutritional benefits of the cornflake and making them prominent. By informing the target audience more Kellogg can effectively influence attitude of consumer.
List of References
Dawn Iacobucci, Philip Kotler (2001) Kellogg on marketing. John Wiley and Sons
Fredric M. Jablin, Linda Putnam (2000) The new handbook of organizational communication: advances in theory, research, and methods. SAGE
Philip Kotler, Gary Armstrong (2006) Principles of Marketing. Prentice Hall
Websites
Kellogg’s Australian Website, viewed on 22.04.2009, (URL:http://www.kelloggs.com.au/)
Kellogg’s Australian Website, viewed on 22.04.2009, (URL: http://www2 .kelloggs.com/)
Uncle Toby’s Australian Website, viewed on 22.04.2009, (URL:http://www.nestle.com.au/uncletobys/)
