MINNEAPOLIS — Late last month, Post Holdings entered into an agreement to acquire the MOM Brands Co., Minneapolis, for approximately $1.15 billion. But until the transaction goes through, it’s business as usual for MOM. The company on Feb. 10 announced the launch of a new national integrated marketing campaign focused on building awareness of its assortment of Malt-O-Meal cereals. In addition, the brand is adding two new cereals to its lineup: Peanut Butter Colossal Crunch and S’mores.
The new marketing campaign will be supported with television and digital advertisements, a new interactive on-line hub called Flavor Nation (http://malt-o-meal.com/flavornation/), public relations and social media.
“Consumers continue to rank taste as the No. 1 factor when it comes to deciding what to eat,” said Kyle Peterson, director of brand management, MOM Brands. “While the Malt-O-Meal brand has always stood for great value, we wanted to highlight the great taste of our products and remind consumers that taste and value don't have to be an either or option.”
The new 30-second television spot titled “Full Thumbs” features Malt-O-Meal cereals being put through a taste test by a panel of children as their parents look on. A voice-over lets viewers know that the taste test will be determined by “a simple thumbs up or thumbs down.” After finishing their bowls of Malt-O-Meal cereals, the children approvingly show “full thumbs” up to their parents as the voice-over says, “Malt-O-Meal cereal — thumbs up on great taste.”
The television spot will run for 26 weeks on network and cable channels during morning news, daytime and select primetime programming. The spot can also be viewed on-line at http://youtu.be/MpLarnLZLBk.
MOM also is launching a new on-line hub called “Flavor Nation,” which allows consumers to explore, discuss and share their favorite flavors of Malt-O-Meal cereals through a variety of interactive experiences, including “What’s Your Flavor?,” “Find Your Flavor Match” and a “#cerealselfie” social hashtag campaign. In the “What’s Your Flavor?” section, consumers can discover their secret cereal identity by answering eight short questions. The #cerealselfie invites consumers to share their favorite flavor for a chance at “cerealebrity.”
In addition to its new marketing campaign, the Malt-O-Meal brand is introducing two new R.-T.-E. cereal varieties. Peanut Butter Colossal Crunch features crunchy corn puffs made with peanut butter. S'mores cereal combines squares of honey graham crackers with crunchy chocolate and marshmallow pieces. S'mores is cholesterol free and contains 120 calories per serving.
