Kellogg’s secret bid to target children

CEREALS giant Kellogg’s is exploiting sophisticated techniques to market to children without their parents’ knowledge, the Guardian newspaper reported yesterday.

The company targeted children by bypassing parents and deploying "viral marketing" and "underground communication".

A submission by an advertising agency for an "effectiveness award" in 2002 explained how its campaign for Kellogg's Real Fruit Winders "entered the world of kids in a way never done before", and managed to "not let mum in on the act". Sugars make up over a third of the product, which won a "Tooth Rot" award in 2002.

Using "mutant fruit characters" the agency said it "spread the word about the brand virally" by word of mouth following an "initial underground communication" campaign.

It managed to "seed" the characters and a secret language at concerts, in magazines and cinemas.

It also used clothing to place the characters with children's celebrities, gaining exposure on TV shows and music channels popular with children.

"We have a clear indication that it infiltrated kids' conversations," the ad agency's submission boasts.

It quotes typical responses from children in its research: "It's cool" and "It is more secret than text messaging my mum wouldn't know what was going on."

The Fruit Winders campaign also encouraged children to interact with it on websites. The advertising agency said it managed to reach nearly 60% of children with PR and the web.

Kellogg's said it now has a new approach to advertising to include mothers.