Marketing in the News: Kellogg's Is Making Its Cereal Boxes for Blind and Visually Impaired Consumers

 The article that I am interested in writing about is having to do with Kellogg's releasing packaging that will be accessible for people who are blind or visually impaired in the United Kingdom. I find this to be very interesting because this is the first time I have ever heard about a company doing this, and the way they are going about doing it with the use of technology is really intriguing.

The article first starts off by talking about a trial that was done in 2020 to test a code that was developed by NaviLens and was put on the packaging of Coco Pops cereal that was displayed on the shelves of Co-Op stores. The code that is put on the packaging allows for smartphones to scan it, and then have the labeling as well as the allergens of the product be played back for the person to listen to. Because the trial was so successful too, the code is going to be added to Kellogg's cereal boxes in the next year. This idea initially came about when there was a meeting between Kellogg's and children from a Liverpool school that is for children with sensory impairment. They were hoping to find a solution that would help them overcome the barriers that they have that come from having sight loss. 

Now, it is clear to see that the value proposition that this company has is to provide a way for people who are visually impaired to have an easier time when it comes to buying their products. They are promising people an easier way to buy their products by coming out with an app that will scan the codes on their cereal boxes that will read out the information on the box to the person. 

What makes this marketing approach so unique is that it is using technology in a way that can really help people when they go to shop and have difficulty reading the labels on products. The company has also said that they aim to share their experience with using this technology with other companies so that more products can have these codes, which means that they will be more accessible to people who are visually impaired. This is quite a unique way of making their products more accessible and something that I have never heard of being done before. 

I think that overall this marketing strategy is great and will really help out lots of people when they are out shopping. Especially if it is something that has not really been done before. It also shows people how much the company cares for its consumers and wants their products to be more accessible for more people. If I was the product manager, I might work more towards getting the idea out to more companies so that it does not limit people to one kind of product. I would try and reach out to other big companies and share the ideas of them putting codes on their products, that way more products would be able to have them on them. 

What I learned from this article is that there are efforts being made to help those who are blind or visually impaired that I had not known about before. It was really interesting to read about how they are planning to start adding codes to products and having an app to use to scan them. Before reading this article, I never would have thought about doing something like that. But I hope that more companies hear about that idea and start applying it more to their products. 

Link to article: https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/kelloggs-cereal-boxes-for-blind-and-visually-impaired-consumers/

Link to Kellogg's: https://www.kelloggs.com/en_US/home.html

Link to picture: https://www.delish.com/uk/food-news/a36902758/kelloggs-cereal-boxes-blind-shoppers/