Brand Relevance: Making Competitors Irrelevant - always yours

THE FOOD INDUSTRY ADAPTS 135
McDonald ’ s in 1991; the KFC skinless chicken option; and low -
fat frozen deserts by Sara Lee all failed in the marketplace.
A second problem was that people who ate low - fat or low -
calorie food items tended to eat more. Some would feel empowered
to eat a whole box of SnackWell ’ s. Tragically for Nabisco,
this phenomenon was labeled the “ SnackWell ’ s syndrome, ”
even though it applies to any product with a label that has a
low - calorie connotation. Another curse of success. When people
learned from fi rsthand experience or from reading about scientifi
c studies that SnackWell ’ s was not a route to losing weight,
the energy was sucked out of the brand. SnackWell ’ s is still a
viable brand with a worthwhile business, but it is no longer a
star. The SnackWell ’ s brand, however, remains poised to capitalize
on low - fat surges in the future and thus may be a signifi -
cant asset beyond its current business.
A similar story played out over Nabisco ’ s much larger brand
Oreo. Oreo is the leading cookie sold in the United States —
sales are not regularly publicized, but in 2002 Oreo sales were
reported to be over $ 900 million. The current form of the Oreo
cookie, introduced in 1952, was actually developed by Sunbeam
in their Hydrox cookie, which lost market share to Nabisco
and was ultimately withdrawn in 1999. The original Oreo was
made with lard and thus had excessive saturated fat. When saturated
fat became a visible health issue, Oreo switched to trans
fat in 1992 without affecting the taste and texture of the original.
However, when trans fat became a problem the remedy was
not so easy. There followed an enormous R & D initiative over
many years to fi nd a replacement for trans fat. Finally, in 2006 a
revised Oreo with acceptable taste and texture was introduced
without trans fat, but by that time Oreo had lived under a cloud
for several years.
Nabisco took another tack by seeking relevance to an audience
used to indulgent eating but preoccupied by weight control.
In 2007, Nabisco pioneered 100 - calorie packs of snacks.
In doing so it leveraged the equities of its brand portfolio.