Trident International University MKT301 Spring 2011Term Module 4, CASE Select TWO products from the list of product categories below and using the teaching materials and any additional research explain what you think would be an appropriate promotions strategy for both them. In doing so compare and contrast the two promotions strategies explaining why you think they would be similar or different. Select TWO products from the following product categories: • CARBONATED SOFT DRINKS—Pepsi Cola Products • BREAKFAST CEREALS – Kellogg Breakfast Cereals

Illustrate your answer by referring to specific brands within each of the two product categories you have chosen. June 6, 2011 I have decided to look at the promotion strategy for the Pepsi Cola Soft Drink Company and Kellogg’s Breakfast Cereal. I chose these two companies because I use both of them frequently and both of them looked a lot easier to delve into the promotion strategy than the other products. I think I am addicted to have at least a Pepsi everyday and it seems as though my children would prefer to have cereal versus making them a real meal for dinner.

So, I will start with Pepsi-Cola. Pepsi-Cola is the invention of Caleb Bradham, a pharmacist and drugstore owner from New Bern, North Carolina. According to sirpepsi. com, his creation, a unique mixture of kola nut extract, vanilla and rareoils, became so popular his customers named it “Brad’s Drink. ” In June 1903, “Pepsi-Cola” was officially registered with a U. S. Patent office. Pepsi has a rich history in marketing innovation starting with in 1939, a newspaper cartoon strip, “Pepsi ; Pete,” that introduced the theme “Twice as Much for a Nickel” to increase consumer awareness of Pepsi’s alue advantage, in 1940 Pepsi made advertising history with the first advertising jingle ever broadcast nationwide with “Nickel, Nickel” and eventually become a hit record, translated into 55 languages. In 1941, Pepsi changed the color of its bottle crowns to red, white and blue as a way to show support for the World War II. This obviously was a genius promotional move. Pepsi has always had a massive advertising and promotional machine behind them as referenced above. They have a history of using celebrities from Michael Jackson (remember he burnt his hair) to recently using Beyonce.

Pepsi, mainly segment their market by demographics such as age, income and family size and I tend to think the target market is the younger generation from 14-35, mostly based off of their strategy of using younger celebrities and recent advertising. Another target market is diabetic or older folks with Diet Pepsi diet for the people who are suffering from diabetic and for those who are likely to avoid sugar. I also decided to look at Kellogg’s promotion strategy because I grew up on the cheap, simple cereal and always loved adding my own sugar to my bowl. Dr.

John Harvey Kellogg, a vegetarian, and his brother William Keith Kellogg created cornflakes in 1894 as a healthy breakfast alternative for Dr John’s patients at his sanatorium. Fast forward a century later and they remain one of the most popular breakfast cereals in the world. Today, Kellogg’s produces more than 40 different cereals with plants in 19 countries, on six continents and markets its products in more than 180 countries. The company employs 15,657 people in its worldwide organization. The Company’s cereal products are generally marketed under the Kellogg’s name nd also marketed under trademarks, brand names and slogans it owns. The target segment of Kellogg’s Cereal is children, even though it seems the corn flakes brand originally didn’t seem to be marketed to children. According to Jpfarrel BlogSpot, Kellogg now reports that by the end of 2008 approximately 70% of products marketed to children will meet the guidelines whereupon advertising to children under 12 for the products that fail the guidelines will cease. The Kellogg Company is very good in their messaging to the different segments with advertising and packaging to certain segments.

One problem is that the main source of advertising is through television. According to rincondelvago. com, Kellogg has over 40 types of cereals with the message and packaging is usually different for most cereals depending who the target group. And depending on those groups, all the brands are given their own air time aimed specially at a target of audience. For example, “Special K” is produced for woman, Frosties and Coco Pops are aimed towards children, Corn Flakes are aimed towards the whole family, so depending on the group the advertisment is aimed at the content is different. The package has to epresent the group that the product is aimed at, and also it has to have space for nutritional information and any promotional offers. Specifically, Special K is a cereal aimed directly at women, who normally are very worried about the weight. All-Brand is another great example of this messaging to a specific segment and is advertised like a fibre product. Those brands are also aimed at health care. Special K and All-Brand are unique as they mostly bought by women, who seems to be the most worried about their bodies. It appears the Kellogg Company is slow to move into other promotional opportunities; Mark

Baynes, Chief marketing officer for Kellogg at the Battle Creek, Mich. , said the company crossed the $1 billion benchmark on ad spending during 2007, and its outlay is set to increase this year. Mr. Baynes said his company spends an additional $300 million on promotional marketing. They are moving into the digital age though, as he also offered this; “For the right opportunity, the [online] space offers fresh ways to commercialize new and existing brands, target specific audiences on needs more cost effectively,” he said. I tend to think the Kellogg Company needs to move to be more current with its promotional nd advertising strategy. As stated previously, they just seem to have a one-dimensional strategy relying too heavily on television advertising time. I would try to branch out with the numerous internet sites designed for their main segment of children and also try to gain ground in the elementary education area. The Pepsi-Cola company is everywhere and is always spending massive amounts of money in every conceivable outlet, with the latest in trying to gain sponsorship with the Russian space program. I think they should try to work on the history of heir product and tie in their theme of “Generation Next” to meet “Generations Past”. This would be a way to reach out to a segment they do not seem to target and that is the older generation. This would also be a way to tap in to Coca Cola’s antique mystic that they have with many folks who collect Coke memorabilia. The differences between Kellogg’s and Pepsi-Cola are mainly in the target markets. Pepsi- Cola has several segments with the younger generation from targeting the sports buffs in the MLB or NFL, the music fan or the celebrity genre, whereas, it seems Kellogg is more focused on ge brackets and gender. Pepsi-Cola is into mass promotions, I guess from competing with Coca-Cola over the years and Kellogg doesn’t seem to concerned with branching to far from traditional advertising. Pepsi products are seen more and more on television shows (see Saturday Night Live) and various movies (Star Wars) connections, whereas Kellogg is content with marketing on soap opera’s and Saturday morning cartoons. References: http://www. sirpepsi. com/pepsi11. htm Comparative analysis of marketing segmentation, targeting strategy between Pepsi vs Coca Cola in Asia (Bangladesh), by ankandhk, http://hubpages. om/hub/PEPSIvsCOCACOLAmarketing-strategy http://www. fundinguniverse. com/company-histories/Kellogg-Company-Company-History. html Kellogg: Digital ROI Surpasses That of TV, By: Emily Bryson York, Bio RSS feed September 04, 2008. , http://adage. com/article/news/kellogg-digital-roi-surpasses-tv/130747/ Kellogg: Digital ROI ready for tv. , posted September 5, 2008, http://jpfarrell. blogspot. com/search/label/Kellogg%27s Kellogg’s Company, Analisis de Empresas y Mercados. Alimentacion # Food manufacturing. Marketing. Sales department, http://html. rincondelvago. com/kelloggs-company. html