Hydrox is making a comeback-- albeit a brief one...
Can the temporary reemergence of a brand that invokes a very passionate reaction from some consumers-- and a lukewarm response from most-- really have a discernible effect on marketing goodwill for a powerhouse company like Kellogg?
Image courtesy of http://spacefem.com/hydrox/ |
The Wall Street Journal reported today that the Kellogg Co. is bringing Hydrox cookies back to store shelves this August.
Gone from circulation since 2003, Hydrox has apparently inspired more than 1,000 Internet users to sign an online petition in the fallen cookie's honor and prompted more than 1,300 consumers to call Kellogg asking after it-- and even motivated ardent fans to create Web sites like this one. But rather than a "permanent product reintroduction," the Hydrox relaunch is a limited-time offer intended as a marketing/CRM move. (Brad Davidson, head of Kellogg's snack division, told the Journal that Kellogg won't rule out the possibility that positive consumer sentiment might prompt a more permanent reemergence for the cookie.)
How powerful is a temporary product relaunch as a CRM strategy? Sure, Hydrox fans will take notice, but in a chocolate-cookie-with-cream-filling world dominated by the all-powerful Oreo, is the relaunch worth the effort? Does it carry any marketing weight as a fun nod to sugary-sweet nostalgia?
[Interesting aside: The Journal also mentioned that Hydrox-- often thought to be Oreo's imitator-- was actually the original: "In fact, Hydrox was created by what would later become Sunshine Biscuits Co. in 1908 -- four years before National Biscuit Co. (later Nabisco) launched the similar Oreo. Sunshine is now a unit of Kellogg." Who knew?]
