Market Failure: Kelloggs Cereal-Mates

A Study on Market Failure Kellogg Cereal-Mates First, I must begin by saw that as most Americans would agree cereal and milk go together hand-in-hand. How eer, how would the general public feel about a combination of the 2 sold pre-mixed? This was essentially the case when Kelloggs decided to introduce eliminate Mates. Breakfast Mates included a downhearted box of Kelloggs cereal packaged with a container of milk and eating utensil. While the return was right in step with the accelerating trend of convenience foods, a erratic and demanding public found the new packaging less than ideal.Essentially the choice that Kelloggs was gift consumers was that you could eat your Kelloggs Corn Flakes refrigerator stale and pour cold milk oer them, or eat your flakes at room temperature with inviolable milk. This light-emitting diode to a dilemma that would ultimately be proven as a scar on the ships companys record of fantastic crops and marketing campaigns. Kelloggs believe that this would be a general excogitation due to increased working hours in the United States combined with the overdress of the fast-food industry led the false belief that the product would be successful. Kelloggs launched the concept on a national basis in fit out forma four oz. ox of cereal, a four oz. container of aseptically packaged milk no infrigidation required and a plastic spoon. The line consisted of four popular Kelloggs brands Corn Flakes Fruit Loops Mini Wheats and Frosted Flakes. Although the milk did non require refrigeration, Kelloggs placed Breakfast Mates in the keep dairy case alongside cheese, yogurt, Jell-O pudding, and other refrigerated desserts. The company believed that this would be the best choice since Americans liked to pour their milk over cereal. This caused much confusion, however, because most individuals wouldnt be searching for breakfast cereals in the dairy case.I feel that there were 5 main circumstanceors that actually led to this marketing and product failure. The first problem I feel was the fact that Kelloggs believed that providing a aseptically packaging. This meant that the product would require no refrigeration for the milk. Consumers were revolted by the idea of warm milk. The second issue was when Kelloggs assay to market in a different fashion and use sang-froid milk as the basis by putting the product in the refrigerator section. This actually caused more confusion because the product was not in a location that you would expect cereal at.They company spent likewise much of what profit money they had received in trying to re-educate consumers into looking for in the dairy aisle for cereal. The third factor that led to the products frustrated stint into the marketplace was their advertising campaign. In these ads Kelloggs chose to market the product to untried kids so they could prepare meals for themselves without their parents help. This would energize been fine, unless the packaging was not child-fr iendly. sense of taste was also a serious problem for the Kelloggs convenience line. reportedly (according to personal experience), the milk was usually consumed at work or absent from home.The warm milk tasted absolutely terrible. Finally, the biggest nail in the coffin for this product was that the price. The cereal was selling for over one dollar per serving, which was considered too big-ticket(prenominal) by most consumers for a 4 oz cereal. The product survived two old age on the market before Kelloggs pulled the plug. According to the February 2000 article in the Newsweek on the food, they stated that the product simply wasnt convenient enough. This is because with increased turn times and busy schedules people wanted a product they could eat on the go.With cereal mates they were required to still pour a liquid milk over the cereal which was not possible to do safely while commuting to work. Most customers also were adults, so the small spoon that was supplied with the ce real was too hard to use. I feel that this was a good product in concept, but the complexity of the concept make this product non-attractive to those who not only were needing a convenient and healthy food, but also one they could consume in a hurry. This idea later(prenominal) evolved to the milk and cereal bars they would later introduce around 2004 which have been wildly more successful than the original cereal mates ever were.