JKR

Against tightening belts and own label “switch and save” communication, brands are working harder to remind consumers that they’re worth the extra pennies.

Cereal always feels like a bit of a commodity, many of us suspecting that Kellogg’s probably make the own label versions. In response, their latest advertising campaign presents an animated William Kellogg and voice-over proclaiming ‘he signed every box to guarantee it contained his unique recipe…if you don’t see Kellogg’s on the box, well it won’t be Kellogg’s in the box”. In other words, the branding is being worked as a traditional trademark guaranteeing that this is the real deal – “accept no imitations”. Fortunately for Kellogg’s they have never monkey-ed with the logo, so they can still evoke their founder’s legacy (see below).

Jordan’s is playing the same game in new advertising about the British farmers they use and referring to ‘Bill and David Jordan’. The fact that the cereal is ‘baked by eye’ so ‘you can taste we care’ makes one think “there’s no way own label pays that much attention to my breakfast!”.

The point being that while own label communication continues to wage a functional and generic “our prices are lower” war which does nothing to evoke brand values or personality, the supermarkets are missing the chance to imbue their own label ranges with any emotional equities, leaving the door open for “proper brands” to remind us of their authenticity and humanity.