Kellogg seeks kids' advice

Kellogg's Real Fruit Winders are to be put to the test in a new web poll of young consumers. The poll allows children to vote for their preferred shape and flavour of the company's latest additions to its Real Fruit Winders range.

Voters are restricted to three possible flavours: lemon, tropical and raspberry. The extra flavour will be an addition to the current range of strawberry, orange and blackcurrant flavours.

To encourage interest in the scheme and add a touch of excitement, the voting will be done in real time by featuring a live vote count on the website, realfruitwinders.com​. In addition to the website, voting can also be carried out by the more traditional means of post and a free phone telephone number until the end of May.

According to market analysts Datamonitor​, this approach is part of a growing trend to promote packaged confectionery online. There is growing recognition among confectioners that today's children have been brought up in a highly technological age, and as a result, a broad range of brands have sought to add an interactive element to their confectionery products.

This has often been achieved through the establishment of games on confectionery websites, Datamonitor continued. Brand executives know that their products need to be interactive and fun if they are to capture the young IT-literate market. Therefore, below-the-line activity is increasingly being used as a marketing tactic, particularly for consumer packaged goods targeted towards children.

If the initiative proves successful, Kellogg, along with other snack manufacturers, may well roll the concept out to promote other packaged products.