Nutri-Grain leaves 'Iron Man' behind for 'Unstoppable' teens

Client: Kellogg's Nutri-Grain cereal

Agency: JWT Sydney, with Finch, Mindshare, VML, Liquid Ideas, Loop Brands

Market: Australia

Campaign scope: Long- and short-form video content, TVCs, digital, online, PR, social and packaging/logo redesign.

Details: The first in a promised series of teen video subjects is Brazilian Derek Rabelo, a blind teen who surfs. Rabelo is at Sydney's Manly beach today through Sunday, where a pop-up cinema will be showing the videos about him (see below) and he will be taking part in a surfing demonstration along with the brand's other surfing ambassadors (of which there are apparently several). The brand will be using the #liveunstoppable hashtag to generate social discussion. 

Press release quotes: Angela Morris, JWT executive planning director: “It’s a big responsibility to reposition an iconic brand, and Nutri-Grain needed to reconnect with an audience that’s been pretty indifferent to cereal advertising. Moving to a belief-based platform gives the brand reason and right to shift away from talking at them from the breakfast table and instead to have a more meaningful and relevant dialogue in the teen's world.”

Campaign Asia Pacific's comments: The video content is well-produced, and the first story is compelling. We also like the oval-shaped 'bolt' icon, which looks like something out of a fresh social-network website but actually reflects the shape of the cereal itself and subtly harkens back to the past 'Iron Man' branding. We're not so sure about the logo, which seems to evoke a 1980s heavy metal band. The whole effort depends, of course, on getting teens (not aging editors) to take notice and resonate. That's a famously tough task, but moving on from the 'Iron Man' thing was long overdue.

CREDITS

Creative and Strategy: JWT
ECD: Simon Langley
ACD/Writer: Will Edwards
ACD/Art Director: Chris Badger
Head of Broadcast: Amanda Slatyer
Executive Planning Director: Angela Morris
Senior Planner: Jim Schuch
Group Account Director: Fiona Wilson
Account Manager: Jessica Mitchell
Production: Finch
Media, Sponsorship and Digital: Mindshare
Web, social, digital activation: VML
Public Relations: Liquid Ideas
Packaging design: Loop Brands

This playlist below runs through several videos about Rabelo: