Kellogg’s campaign pushes cereal beyond the morning meal
Kellogg is looking beyond the breakfast table with a marketing campaign that positions cereal as a go-to, anytime snack.
The campaign—“Kellogg’s Cereal. Snacking that hits the spot” by Leo Toronto—is driven by the insight that generation Z and millennial consumers are shifting towards smaller, more frequent meals and ritualized snacking habits.
While 68% of cereal consumption still happens at breakfast, according to research from Kellogg’s, cereal-as-a-snack is gaining traction. In fact, social listening revealed “a growing trend among gen Z and millennial consumers who were celebrating how much cereal hit the spot for them beyond breakfast, especially for mid-day and evening snacking, said Jeff Chatterton, head of marketing, Canada at WK Kellogg Co.,” in an email interview with Canadian Grocer. “Qualitative research helped define the two biggest focus areas where our cereals really delivered: the boost to overcome the mid-afternoon slump and the sweet, satisfying reward at the end of a long day.”
To break through to younger audiences, the campaign combines humour and nostalgia in a series of “public snacking announcements.” This format gave the brand “the creative freedom to play into the tropes of '90s-style PSAs, complete with a convincing host,” Chatterton said. “For many gen z and millennials, these ads fit the ‘newstalgia’ trend by borrowing elements from the past and bringing them forward with a new perspective.”
In a spot for Mini-Wheats, a remote worker on a laptop accidentally ends a client email with, “I love you,” with the cereal positioned as a much-needed “frosted boost” for the 3 p.m. slump. Another ad features a young woman who went to four engagement parties in one evening and “was done bringing a forced smile as her plus one.” The antidote? A reward in the (ring-shaped) form of Froot Loops. In a spot for Frosted Flakes, the cereal is shown as an evening reward after the kids’ bedtime, featuring a young dad who spent hours demonstrating to his four-year-old why water is wet.
The campaign taps into broader eating trends among younger, on-the-go consumers, who are looking for convenient, flexible food options, explained Chatterton. And with that, cereal checks all the boxes.
“With many gen Z and millennials leading hybrid lives, cereal and milk has become even more accessible throughout the day—just steps away in the kitchen—which opens up new opportunities for our brands and the category,” he said. “And with so much going on in their lives and an ever-growing list of responsibilities, that end-of-day reward moment stood out as something that resonated deeply.”
The campaign is part of a broader North American effort, with creative tailored by brand and agency partners in both Canada and the U.S. to resonate with local audiences during peak snacking moments.
On the media front, Chatterton said the goal is to reach gen z and millennials in advance of or during their daily snacking moments. “This meant showing up where they already are, including streaming sites like Amazon Prime, YouTube, Netflix and in social feeds on Meta during the afternoon and evening scroll. We also activated in retail and ecommerce spaces to make consumers’ shopping snacking choices easier in the moment.”
