The New Shape of Breakfast

Following recent trends toward sustainability through the downgauging of corrugated packages, Kellogg recently announced that it has embarked on a six-month test of a new cereal box design. The revamped design is the biggest box change in over a half a century and will grace store shelves in the Detroit area. The new box holds the same amount of product with less packaging and what the company touts as a “more consumer-friendly and space saving box.”

If consumers embrace the new shape of this American staple, the company is set to literally change the shape of the industry. What do you think of the new shape?

From AdAge:

CHICAGO (AdAge.com) — Kellogg Co. is testing a “space-saving” cereal-box design that it predicts will redefine the cereal aisle. The new box, which is being tested in Detroit, represents the package-foods company’s biggest box tweak since the 1950s. According to Kellogg, consumers and retailers want to save room in pantries and on store shelves.

(Link)

Here’s a related post: Brands Evolve But Does B2B (Link)  This evolution in packaging shows that there is plenty of opportunity for B2B companies to push brands to innovate.

Audio: BtoB Packaging Outlook 09

Alan Isacson, president of ABI, and Chris Lyons, publisher of Package Design Magazine, discuss the big issues facing BtoB packaging in 09.  Packaging is an industry that touches on so many different areas: consumer behaviors, the economy, the environment, supply chain, safety — you name it.

Alan and Chris also offer advice on marketing during the tough times, some common BtoB pitfalls, and some of the issues uniqe to the packaging industry.  Both also discuss opportunities with new communication technologies.

ABI’s Colbert Speaks to Packaging Digest on Sustainability and BtoB Packaging

Tim Colbert spoke to Packaging Digest’s Linda Casey about ABI SustainabilityDriver Program.  It’s been great to see continued interest from prospects and the media on this program.  BtoB companies are realizing that green initiatives sometimes go hand-in-hand with cost-cutting and efficiency.

Overview of sustainability development program
This podcast features a discussion between Linda Casey and ABI director Tim Colbert about the agency’s SustainabilityDriver program. The service, which launched in fall of 2008, is designed to help packaging operations identify, position and communicate their sustainability initiatives.

Listen to the interview here: Link

Read more about ABI’s Sustainability Drive Program here: Link

BtoB Megatrends Report Download

From the Economist Intelligence Unit, here is a list of the top ten megatrends in B2B marketing. Thought leadership coming on top, integrated marketing becoming the norm, and emerging market taking the center stage all falls into our expectations; but B2B purchasing decisions becoming more complex, and the ROI obsession are also catching our attention.

Of course, the economy is going to have a huge impact on all of these trends, but what’s interesting is that this is a big leap for most BtoB companies.  Time was that price, price, and price where the megatrends for BtoB and marketing was seen as a personal relationship with purchasing.  Today, BtoB marketers know that building a strong case for business value is important.  That’s why topics like Thought Leadership come out so strong in this report.  Making that case takes time and effort.  The path to a strong ROI may not be a straight one.  Your customers need to see you as a strong leader in your field and partner in navigating what could be a difficult path ahead.

You can down load the full report here (3.2 MB): Link

Harvard Business on Marketing in “The Great Disruption”

In the Harvard Publishing Blog, Scott Anthony explores the idea of moving beyond the phrase “crisis” and into “condition” in his entry Innovation in the Great Disruption.   The idea is that simply waiting for conditions to improve will not be enough for most companies to survive.  Recognizing that the whole game plan has changed.  His ideas echo a recent podcast from Alan Isacson on Marketing in a Challenging Economy:

Our favorite quotes from Scott Anthony’s entry:

“In 2009, managers will realize that they are no longer dealing with a crisis; they are dealing with a condition. In the Great Disruption, companies simply can’t anticipate that today’s competitive advantage will last for more than a few years.”

“While companies might want to return to the corporate equivalent of comfort food–cost-cutting and a focus on the core business–the Great Disruption won’t allow it.”

From a BtoB marketing perspective the take-away is that the path ahead may be tough, but innovators will still be rewarded.  Aggressively launching new products and introducing innovation to new markets may be the only way to survive and thrive moving ahead.

From the entry:

While the global economy began slowing down in late 2007, forces transforming the face of business trace back more than a decade. Over that time period, technological improvements have made it ever easier to start and scale a business. Convergence went from being a cliché to a reality. Companies from countries like China, India, and Brazil burst onto the world stage. The global slowdown coupled with the credit crunch in late 2008 accelerated these forces.

If sagging employment and dwindling economic prospects led historians to term the 1930s the Great Depression, perhaps it is appropriate to tab today’s hyper-competitive market where competitive advantage dissipates in a heartbeat the “Great Disruption.”