Wednesday, May 22, 2013

CowWow Cereal Milk


"There is nothing new under the sun" and that is often true in the cereal world too. It certainly is the case with cereal milk, an idea that goes back at least 7 or more years, but has never really taken off. The idea is simple: For people on the go and who want the taste of cereal without the crunch why not just provide the milk, like it is at the bottom of the bowl. Past attempts include Liquid Cereal and even a General Mills attempt, but neither succeeded.

Maybe the timing wasn't right. At least that appears to be the thought of CowWow, a company that offers organic milk in two "bottom of the bowl" cereal flavors: Fruity Trudy and Chocolate Chip Cathy.

It is questionable as to whether this will take off without a closer link to some major cereal brands, but the company does have one marketing accomplishment, the endorsement of Jimmy Kimmel.

We'll keep watching to see if this one Mooves.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

The Cap'n goes late night

Just when you thought the drama over Jay Leno and NBC's Tonight Show was dying down, Quaker is entering the fray to go head to head with Leno, Letterman and Kimmel. Kind of.

Within the last month "The Cap'n Crunch Show" YouTube channel appeared, announcing a new episode "every other Tuesday at 11:35PM ET", exactly the time that the leading late night talk shows make their daily debut. The first episode appeared May 7th and was one minute and 29 seconds of senseless, animated drivel. I doubt that NBC, CBS or ABC have much to worry about. But, it does represent a fresh marketing idea from Quaker, who just two years ago were struggling to find a social media presence for the Cap'n despite the efforts of fans. Today the Cap'n Crunch is one of the leading brands engaging customers on Facebook and Twitter.

See for yourself what the "show" is all about:

Friday, May 03, 2013

It's in the Bag


This is not really new, but something I've been wanting to post for several months now.

A trip down the grocery aisle in recent years reveals the growing trend toward low-cost cereals, often packaged in bags. For cereal purists the mass marketing of cereal in plastic bags seems to take away much of what has made cereal a staple of the breakfast table. The box accompanying your bowl is part of what has made cereal such an integral part of our culture.

Nevertheless, consumers are increasingly realistic. Breakfast cereal is not cheap, and when the economy goes south, people are looking for the best deal. MOM brands, the largest alternative manufacturer of cereal has increased its market because it has taken advantage of this trend, primarily through its Malt-O-Meal brand of bagged cereals that copy big name brands. But, MOM has diversified with other brands as well.

One of the new, creative MOM brands is Spooners, a premium edition of its Malt-O-Meal Mini Spooners, a Mini-Wheats knock-off. Multigrain Spooners come in five flavors, but the real story here is the bag. This is not the flimsy cellophane bag of Malt-O-Meal stacked in bins in the cereal aise. These bags are a thicker plastic that is self-standing. Very attractive. Practical. Potentially revolutionary.

The stand-up bag is not new. We spotted it six years ago used by the UK cereal maker, Jordans. At the time I wondered how long it would take for others to tap into this innovation. MOM appears to be a company willing to "step outside the box" and that is probably why they are experiencing the success they are.