Reinforcing Brand Messaging with Fruity Cheerios

Situation:

General Mills wanted to maintain buzz around Fruity Cheerios, a product introduced in summer 2006, while reinforcing brand messaging that Fruity Cheerios is a cereal moms and children can enjoy together "guilt-free."

Challenges:

- Maintain buzz around a product that was launched eight months prior to the start of the campaign
- Find a way to reinforce brand messaging without paid advertising

Audience:

Moms interested in healthier breakfast cereals that kids will still enjoy.

Strategy:

- Create and execute a contest that asked parents to submit a photo or video of the family enjoying Fruity Cheerios together
- Partner with a third-party (ModernMom.com) to host the contest and ensure maximum coverage with the target audience
- Submit 100 samples of the cereal to leading parent bloggers encouraging them to review the product and publicize the Fruity Cheerios "Family Fun Contest"
- Partner with additional target publications, such as 5MinutesforMom.com, to allow them to review one sample of the cereal as well as distribute boxes to their readers specifically for contest entry

Results:

- Secured 62 Fruity Cheerios review posts; 46 from direct pitching and 15 from the viral effect of the original posts
- Secured 31 contest-related posts; 26 from direct pitching and 5 from the viral effect of the original posts
- Created more than 920,000 impressions
- Placements dominated 70% of the top search results on Google when searching for the term "Fruity Cheerios"
- Internet traffic concerning the product increased an average of 250% during the length of the campaign
- The tone of each entry in the "Family Fun Contest" was on message that parents and kids can enjoy Fruity Cheerios together

Credit Information
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Client: General Mills
Agency: Manning, Selvage & Lee Digital (MS&L Digital)
Budget: $40,000
Date of Campaign: March - June 2007