The Social Cereal Bar

I had the nuttiest dream the other night about being in the grocery store and just like real life the first place I headed to was the cereal aisle.  During my dream I stared at all of the amazing varieties and choices I had to choose from. This led me to think about how many platforms are like choosing breakfast cereals for the modern day marketer. Lots of choices and reasons you chose a certain one over another. So pour some milk, whichever non-dairy version you choose and hear me out with these crunchy, delicious comparisons... 

REESE’S PUFFS: 

It’s Saturday morning and I’m about to sit down with the kids and I’m craving a simple yet beautiful combo of peanut butter and chocolate that is sweet to the mouth. This household staple is a must have just as Twitch is viewed by so many young gamers. With over 100K plus streamers going live daily, you could say that the impact is powerful to say the least. 

Slow and steady, winning the race, Twitch has been a staple for gamers on PC and console for the past decade. Just as Reese’s Puff wasn’t first to market in 1994, Twitch found the right recipe by combining an epic combo into something that has turned into mainstream culture -- watching gamers play live. 

Having that core recipe has also allowed both Twitch and Reese’s Puffs lean into mainstream hypebeast culture that has defined the market. When Drake showed up on stream with Ninja, it began a huge perception shift of making gaming “cool” instead of something that was stereotypically perceived as some sweaty dude with no job playing in the parents basement. And so too has Reese’s leveraged mainstream culture by partnering with the likes of rappers like Travis Scott and Lil Yachty where their branded puffs have fetched well over $150 for a cereal box. 

Twitch drives culture like Reese’s Puffs.

Lucky Charms:

The variety of shapes and colors has me wanting more at the age of five as Lucky Charms has been a longtime favorite of mine. This sugary fueled cereal led by a Leprechaun is a must have box on any counter looking to have a cereal bar of any noteworthy mention. This too could be said for creators that create on YouTube. This variety platform definitely caters to the masses while giving audiences the experience that they want.

The emphasis on Lucky Charms tends to be the magically delicious stuff like the horseshoe and red balloons, but don’t sleep on the gluten-free oats that makes it complete. The same goes for YouTube.

Some of the most entertaining content online is on YouTube, whether its creators like Dr. Disrespect or Dude Perfect, these massive creators are the magical stuff that audiences love. But let’s not forget about the gluten-free oats side of things. YouTube has a plethora of content of how-tos, science, tech and other facets that seemingly combined with the other stuff, makes this platform a bohemeath of content suitable for most. Don’t like the boring stuff? Focus on eating the red balloons. 

YouTube has a variety offering that Lucky Charms does.

Fruity Pebbles:

Last but not least are the Fruity Pebbles. My Grandma Erlenne would tape two-dollar bills to the box for a birthday present, which always made it special. Anything more exciting than seeing a bowl of fresh fruity pebbles? Doubtful.

After some limited testing the Pebbles cereals rolled out the same year that a new cartoon, The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show, aired. Fred and Barney were ahead of their time and Post leveraged popular influencers at the time to charge with their mission -- selling cereal.

And while 9-10 Grams of sugar per bowl is a lot -- making it approximately ⅓ of a recommended allotment as your day is just starting. This is quite similar to TikTok, probably not the healthiest thing on the internet, but there could be worse. As I’ve never met a person that stops at just one bowl of Fruity Pebbles, the same is definitely true for watching TikTok. Before you know it, the box Fruity Pebbles, or hour that you were going to spend reading, is spent watching TikTok.

TikTok adds flavor like Fruity Pebbles does.

I woke up from the dream while I was staring at all of those cereal boxes and it was clear that the shopper has more than one option while stocking their cereal bar. The same is definitely true for modern day marketers as there are so many options and flavors of platforms to decide from while shopping. 

Knowing this makes it truly important for brands to understand what they are going to pour into their bowl before taking a bite, otherwise you’ll end up with Raisin Bran when you are expecting Frosted Flakes.