CHICAGO: Kellogg Company has named Current Global as PR AOR for its brands RxBar, Kashi, Bear Naked and Pure Organic.
Kellogg picked the Interpublic Group agency as AOR in November after a two-months RFP process. The work is set to kick off in January.
“We are delving in with creative supported by strategy that will ultimately help reinforce the merits, versatility and value of each of these brands,” said Desta Roy, Current SVP of client experience. “We are doing that across earned media, events, different experiences, partnerships and influencer work.”
The account will be supported by Current’s U.S. offices and led by Roy. Other Current food and beverage clients include Hidden Valley, Shamrock Farms and Wines of Sicily.
Budget information for Kellogg’s natural and insurgent brands was not disclosed.
Zeno Group, which was RxBar’s previous AOR, also pitched for the business. The firm declined to comment.
“Zeno was a wonderful, effective and impactful partner for RxBar, but Current Global really rose to the top after an initial conversation around what our future goals were with all of these brands coming together in our natural and insurgent category,” said Jenny Lindquist, director of experience planning and content design for the Kellogg brands.
Power Digital, which previously worked with Kashi and Pure Organic, was not invited to pitch. Power Digital did not respond to requests for comment. Bear Naked did not have prior PR support.
Lindquist explained that all of the brands within Kellogg’s natural and insurgent category have a joint mission to make foods that improve health and happiness. The company wants the category to be representative of brands and foods that deliver on that promise.
“It was critical that we bring all of them together [under one PR agency that] understands the ins and outs of all of these brands and our joint mission together and be able to ebb, flow and find different types of strategies for these brands,” said Lindquist.
Having Current Global work with all of the brands will also help them to identify “overlapping or complementary opportunities and individual ones to make each brand a little more effective on their own,” she added.
The natural and organic sector is a cluttered space with what Lindquist referred to as “ankle biters” popping up all over the place. To stand out, the company is focusing on taking each brand and identifying areas and conversations they can be a part of.
“We want to make Kashi, a 36-year-old brand, relevant again and pull it out of its ivory tower and educate people on things like climate and sustainability and we want to make RxBar [appeal to] millennials and Gen Z,” said Lindquist.
