Marketing Problem

Marketing Problem

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2012), 17% of children, in the U.S., aged two to nineteen are obese and 35.7% (more than one-third) of adults in the United States are obese. As a result, companies are having to be a little more creative with their marketing strategies for their unhealthy or perceived to be unhealthy products. Take for example: McDonald's cut down on the size of the French fries in their happy meals and substitute the loss of fries with apple dippers, for which they no longer offer caramel dipping sauce (McDonalds.com, 2012). A change brought on by the on-going negative press that many fast food chains have been receiving over the last decade or so. Kellogg's recently had their own share of negative press, due to a misleading ad campaign found on the company's website.

In an attempt to convince consumers that eating high levels of sugar does not contribute to obesity or several other diseases, in 2011, Kellogg's posted misleading statement about its Coco Pops cereal, on the company website (M. Russell, 2012). A British citizen saw the advertisement, which also stated the World Health Organization had back up these claims, and filed a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK (Advertising Standards Authority, 2012), which lead to a ton of bad press. The claim was upheld and the Kellogg Company was told to revise their claims (Advertising Standards Authority, 2012).

Possible Solution

While advertising is really small part of marketing, The Kellogg Company relies heavily on their reputation as well as product familiarity, when it comes to their marketing strategies (Kelloggs.com, 2012). The problem caused by their misleading statement can be fixed by ensuring that in the future no "as a matter of fact" statements are made in their products claims unless the supporting evidence is conclusively in favor of their claims. Instead of following up their claims by stretching the meaning of statements made by a leading health organization, they should focus on the other highlights of their products. Kellogg's operates in 18 countries and is marketed in over 180 countries (Kelloggs.com, 2012). Therefore there are countries that hear about Kellogg's but only have access to them when they travel or, if possible, purchase online. So, making negative press because of misleading statements about your product have been made, is not a sign of a good marketing strategy. Kellogg's offers a variety of "healthy" foods and was even awarded the Fitness Healthy Food Award, for five of them (Datamonitor, 2011 Continuing to market their healthy products and creating new "healthy" products will allow them to reach the portion of the market they were trying to attract through their false claims.

Noting Trends, Competitors, & Stakeholders

Because of the worldwide fight against obesity, providing foods that taste good and promote good health (or at least do not overly contribute to bad health) has been a notable trend for almost every company that produces or sells food or drinks. Just a stroll down a few aisle in almost any grocery store will result in the finding of products that used to come in "plain" only, now being sold in a fat-free , low fat, or no sugar added form, as well. Or better yet, you'll find many products making claims of how their products are healthier than their competitor's.

Kellogg's saw its operating profits decline in 2011. They associate the loss to their