Consumer Products

Public Relations - Media Kits

Situation

The Kellogg's Food Away From Home Division came to c21 with a new breakfast product for schools: Morning Jump-Starts. The product is a kit, containing single-serve packages of 1/3-reduced sugar cereal, 100% fruit juice and a Pop-Tart or graham crackers. When served with 8 ounces of milk, Jump-Starts meets USDA requirements for a reimbursable breakfast. Kellogg's wanted to promote this convenient and cost-effective breakfast solution through both national and trade media coverage.

Challenge

A similar product already on the market, called Breakfast Breaks, had gained attention in the school foodservice community for its breakfast kit innovation and was receiving positive feedback from students, even though these kits lacked the branding of Morning Jump-Starts.

Another challenge was the possible media response to the kit's inclusion of Pop-Tarts and kid-friendly cereals, in that they are perceived to have too much sugar and calories, and lack nutritional value.

c21 Solution

Knowing the nutritional and economic benefits of Morning Jump-Starts and also knowing the media's negative slant toward their contents, c21 developed a media kit that would not only promote the product, but also address concerns about child nutrition.

c21 then created a detailed media list, including national and trade. The national morning shows, such as Today and Good Morning America, received the print materials on jump-drives and the product as students would receive it, with 8 ounces of icy-cold milk. Additional national media contacts, including CNN, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, received jump-drives with their product samples.

Results

The media kits were distributed within two months of the project start date, and Morning Jump-Starts was immediately included in an article on school breakfast in The Wall Street Journal. c21 also secured added placements in The Tennessean, Foodservice News, Foodservice Director and Empire Foodservice News. National newspapers, such as Detroit Free Press, are developing ways to incorporate the product into larger stories on schools or nutrition. In addition to the public relations successes, Kellogg's achieved economic success with the product - in the first three months Morning Jump-Starts were available, product sales reached $800,000.