Case Study 1: Cereal Box Cover
The Problem
One problem I came across when designing this cereal box, was trying to design an iconic mascot for my brand. I knew I wanted a ghost as my character but I didn't want to make it just an average ghost with two peep holes. This will only make the character bland and not so attractive to the consumers.
The Solution
Target Market
My cereal box design is more focused on kids and teenagers whose ages are between 6-18. I'm aiming to pull in those groups of people who love the celebration of different holidays and since Halloween is coming up, I went with a spooky design to help catch the attention of the consumers during the month of October. My distributors will be Walmart and Joe V's.
Top Competition
Competition in the toasted oats and marshmallows section is very abundant with it being one of the most commonly eaten types of cereal.
My competitions are:
Springfield's Magic Stars
General Mills' Lucky Charms
Brand Trust Through Eye Contact
Research concluded by Cornell’s Food and Brand Lab found that “eye contact could increase positive feelings towards the product, and ultimately encourage consumers to buy that brand”(Bakery and Snacks, 2014). This eye contact is not well executed in both Lucky Charms and Magic Stars. It looks as though the characters are looking more at the cereal rather than straight at the consumer. This is where I feel my cereal box design is superior because my mascot looks right at the consumer rather than just the cereal. Secondly, since my mascot has no actual eyes, you can argue whether or not he is looking up or straight. This makes it so the cereal can be put in the middle or bottom shelf, which gives more freedom of placement in the cereal aisle.
Vocal Consumers
Magic Stars is manufactured by Springfield. According to online reviews about the cereal, many people dislike it because it uses cheap artificial dye in its cereal in order to attract consumers with colors that pop. “Many parents have observed their children's behavior improve drastically when taken off food dyes.” (Colors To Die For, n.d.) This is what causes consumers to lose trust in Springfield and potentially stop buying from the brand altogether.
That is why, for my cereal, I decided to go all natural and have my cereal be GMO-free because it shows that our company has nothing to hide and we want to be a part of our consumers morning health routine. I also made sure I put a sticker that states these facts with a bright red color so that way it attracts the consumer to look and see what it reads and hopefully pull them in to buy our cereal.
The Results
Overall, I am pleased with the end result and feel that this project may do well with other high competitors, if it were a real cereal box cover. Adding a character who looks friendly and makes eye contact with the consumer is what really made the box design stand out from the rest of my competition. Also, showing a nice ecstatic background helps the Cereal Box stand out from the more darker cereal box covers. This will make it easier to notice for consumers in the cereal aisle. All things considered, this was a good exercise for me to see which designs work and which don't when it comes to catching the eye of the consumer with a cereal box cover.
