Kellogg Canada Inc.

After six years of inactivity, the goal was to reintroduce Kellogg’s Corn Pops to the Canadian market by shifting the focus from kids to tweens age 10 to 14. This presented an interesting challenge because the age bracket doesn’t fit perfectly into traditional kid channels (e.g. YTV, Teletoon), yet is too young for the Facebooks and Twitters of the world. 

Tweens want to fit in with their peers, and be the envy of the group when they discover something first. The strategy was to arm tweens with a new experience that involved Corn Pops, in a way that sparked pass-along.

For 80% of tweens, the top social media is instant messaging (IM). Starcom used advanced motion-control technology and webcams to create a new IM experience, partnering with MSN Messenger for a global first. Tweens using Messenger were prompted to play a real-time game within their actual chat. With their webcams, a kitchen table is projected between them with an empty bowl on either side. Tweens must use their mouse to fling Corn Pops at their counterpart, and move their heads to bounce the flying cereal into their bowl. (A non-webcam version was also available.)   

The “It’s Popnetic” creative included display units that used tweens’ webcams (permission-based), putting them right inside the ad.  A web application allowed them to create their own IM emoticons, using a picture of their face, so not only were tweens integral to the ads themselves, they were campaign ambassadors. 

“Popnetic” TV, cinema and TSA ads also led to the brand site, leveraging the webcam again for an augmented reality (AR) musical experience using a visual marker printed on the back panel of the cereal box.  At the time of launch, this was a first for CPGs in Canada. 

During the launch period, the Corn Pops site attracted more than 50,000 tweens a month, exceeding long-established sites such as Mattel.com, Hasbro.com and Millsbery.com.  Midway through the campaign, over 170,000 tweens had visited.  And with volume up 3%, net sales are up 5.3% – truly Popnetic.