Feedback

With a new year there have been several new cereals that have hit the market, none of which are that exciting, in my opinion. In any case, what caught my attention is not the cereals themselves, but what I saw on a box of new Kellogg's Crunch Nut cereal.

Prominently displayed on one of the side panels is a box soliciting feedback: "Tell us what you think about this cereal" along with a website where a consumer can complete a short survey about their impressions of the cereal and how it was purchased.

On the one hand this is not completely new. Feedback notices have been used for years by cereal and other food manufacturers. But, typically these were small and inconspicuous, and related more to customer service issues. This new effort by Kellogg suggests that there is a greater desire to hear directly from consumers. If the responses are taken seriously it could mean better cereals and buying experiences. We hope.

Despite the positive nature of this, I am also somewhat puzzled. A couple of weeks ago I questioned why major cereal companies were not taking more advantage of social networking in their relationships with consumers. This would have been a great way to get even better feedback, by engaging in a conversation. I understand they want a well-controlled survey to provide quantitative data, but so much more could be gained by developing connections with people through Facebook and Twitter. Then a much more complete feedback loop would be in place, benefiting both the company and consumers. Another example of where the big companies are trying, but often a few steps behind.

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