Marketing - Case Study Just Right® (Kellogg's® )

Just Right® is a breakfast cereal produced by Kellogg's® Australia in the early 1980s. It was one of the few breakfast cereal products to be developed and marketed for its health attributes at that time.

Why was the product developed?
Consumer research indicated the need for a tasty, low fat muesli-style breakfast cereal. Consumers wanted an alternative to toasted muesli because it was high in fat. Muesli was also perceived as being heavy. At that time, there was a limited range of tasty, wholegrain breakfast cereals available.

How was the product produced?

The Marketing department at Kellogg's® briefed the Product Development department on the specifications required for the new product which included:

• A muesli-like breakfast cereal
• Light in texture and flavour
• Low in fat
• Lower in salt and sugar than other breakfast cereals
• Tasty.

To maintain the crunchiness of toasted muesli, the flakes are sprayed with a light spray of sugar so that they stay crunchy in a bowl of milk. By coating the flake with sugar the product can also be made with less sugar, whilst maintaining the sweet flavour of regular flakes (because sugar on the surface of the flake tastes sweeter).

To provide the product with a different flavour, rye was added. Just Right® was the first breakfast cereal product to include puffed rye. The technology for puffing rye was developed as part of the product development process.

Kellogg's® pilot plant was used to make several formulations which were tested with consumers before production was scaled up. Pilot testing can involve several formulations and can take up to 18 months before the final product is produced.

The final product

Physical appearance

• A light, crunchy breakfast cereal made from whole wheat, rolled oats, puffed rye, sultanas and dried apricots.

Note - Due to quality issues with rye this ingredient has been replaced with triticale (a cross between wheat and rye).
This ingredient provides a similar flavour, texture and nutrion qualities as rye, but provides a bigger puffed grain.

Nutritional value

At that time, compared to other breakfast cereals, Just Right® was:

• Lower in fat than toasted and plain muesli.
• Lower in salt and sugar than most other breakfast cereals.
• High in dietary fibre.
• Contained added vitamins and minerals. Today, Just Right® contains added thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folate and iron.

Packaging

• Just Right® was initially sold in 300 g and 500 g packages. It is now also available in 800 g packages.

All Kellogg's® packages include special liners to assure the shelf life of the breakfast for at least 12 months.

Labelling/nutrition claims

Australian food regulations require products making a "low salt" claim to contain less than 120 mg/100 g sodium. The salt content of Just Right® was decreased to meet this criterion in 1995/96. A serve of Just Right® provides 22 mg/100 g sodium.

All Kellogg's® products feature the "Kellogg's® Nutrition Guide" which summarises the key nutritional attributes of the product in terms of vitamin, mineral, protein, carbohydrate, cholesterol and sodium content.

Nutrition information on Just Right® packages includes a nutrition information panel and the following Nutrition Guide:

• Good source of 4 vitamins, including folate
• Good source of iron
• High in carbohydrates
• High in fibre
• Low in fat
• Low in salt
• No cholesterol
• No artificial flavours
• No artificial colours.

Marketing

Target market

• Females aged 20 to 35 years interested in nutrition, but also taste.

Positioning

• "Not too heavy, not too light".

Branding

• Earthy, bright colours (i.e. orange and yellow) were used, and continue to be used, in the packaging and advertising to communicate a healthy image.

Strategies

Comparative advertising communicated the "Not too heavy, not too light" positioning.
Television commercials were mainly used as this was the primary medium of communication at the time.

Distribution of product
Just Right® was test marketed in NSW before being made available nationally in all supermarkets.

Evaluation of product's success

• Today, Just Right® features amongst the top 10 breakfast cereals sold in Australia. It is currently primarily consumed by the 35+ age group. Hence the initial target market continues to consume Just Right® .
• Two line extensions have been produced: Just Right Just Grains® (without dried fruit) and Just Right Fruit 'n Flakes® .

For Further Research