Kellogg has been working on a comprehensive brand overhaul during the last several months, and now one of the first significant fruits of its efforts is coming out: A new campaign promoting some of its classic cereals, focused on their simplicity and goodness.

Running under the tagline "Goodness of a Simple Grain," the new campaign extols Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies and Raisin Bran in a farm-to-table positioning that is so popular these days (see: McDonald's farmer spots and Chipotle's Willie Nelson video) and combines it with simplicity messaging, emphasizing that there are only four ingredients, for instance, in Corn Flakes. One spot says Kellogg takes these products "from the seed to the spoon."

"We have a number of brands like this that we've been making for a hundred years," Doug VanDeVelde, Kellogg's SVP of morning foods, marketing and innovation, told Adweek. "But consumers weren't really aware of that, and we need to, in a very simple way, remind them."Continue reading...

An enjoyable breakfast means the world to Kellogg’s. And life hasn’t been easy for name-brand cereal makers in general in recent years, as time-pressed consumers skip breakfast while others are on the watch-out for GMO ingredients.

Now Kellogg’s is serving up something fresh to remind everyone about the importance of a great breakfast to get the day going: a major brand overhaul, as Forbes noted on Friday and the Kellogg company outlined in a press release this morning.

The scope of the visual and verbal identity refresh includes “an updated logo, identifying the Kellogg’s brand’s core purpose, incorporating the ‘masterbrand’ into all Kellogg’s marketing campaigns, consolidating 42 company websites around the world to one, and the new tagline, 'Let’s Make Today Great.'"

The move, Forbes notes, puts digital and social media "at the core of its engagement efforts." To that end, Kellogg's US joined Twitter last week to further engage fans and to help promote its London 2012 Olympics sponsorship of eight Team USA athletes, as it's also talking up on its Facebook page.Continue reading...

The newest version of Kellogg's Rice Krispies may still snap, crackle and pop – but the little guys hiding in the cereal will have to do it without benefit of gluten. In a major acknowledgement of the fast-growing demand for gluten-free foods, Kellogg has announced the introduction of Rice Krispies Gluten Free Cereal.

Because of the rising incidence and recognition of celiac disease and gluten intolerance among American consumers, both adults and kids, all manner of natural-foods and niche startups created the gluten-free ready-to-eat cereal niche. And they have commanded this growing segment in part because the cereal industry’s major players mostly have left it to them.

Kellogg’s latest move could change all of that.

Breakfast cereal largely is considered a better-for-you aisle in the supermarket anyway – except for those pesky concerns about too much sugar – and Kellogg, General Mills and others have made major strides in boosting the intrinsic healthfulness of their products over the last several years. Not only have they largely switched to whole-grain raw materials but they also have created countless low-sugar and low-sodium options and included actual fruit in more varieties.

Rice Krispies Gluten Free represents the next step.Continue reading...

Marking National Breakfast Day in America, Kellogg’s hosted a kick-off event this morning with actress Melissa Joan Hart and its beloved cereal brand mascots, Tony the Tiger and Snap! Crackle! and Pop!, at New York's Grand Central Terminal.

It was more than just a feel-good photo opp and welcoming committee to offer free breakfasts to commuters flooding into Manhattan.Continue reading...

BP shares jump on news it's capping 10,000+ barrels/day, though its (now $1.25B) cleanup may continue into 4th quarter and claims mount. Despite last week's ad with CEO Tony Hayward flopping, the company will release new ads as soon as this week. The White House, meanwhile, released its own spill update on Saturday.

Apple is expected to unveil the new iPhone at its developers conference today.

AT&T implements tiered pricing today; app makers worry usage will drop.

Yahoo integrates, introduces Facebook features.Continue reading...

Chalk this one up to a supercharged political environment that now attaches suspicions to cereal-box labels as well as virus vaccines: Kellogg has just announced that it is backing away from the “Immunity” claim on its Rice Krispies and Cocoa Krispies cereals.

As we reported Tuesday, critics recently scored Kellogg for emblazoning the claim, “Now Helps Support Your Child’s IMMUNITY” on the front of the packages after boosting the daily value of antioxidant vitamins A, C and E in the cereals to 25% last spring, from the earlier 10%.

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera protested that Kellogg’s claim implied that its cereals could help protect kids against the swine-flu epidemic, and might mislead parents -- though Kellogg had been developing the line for more than a year, well before the advent of the H1N1 scare, and rolled it out in May.Continue reading...