Fiber One’s Iconic Rebrand: A Creative Journey
Unveiling The Transformation With “Work Done”
On July 29th, 2019, Fiber One embarked on a unique journey of rebranding, unveiling a video clip ad titled "Work Done" featuring pop culture stars from Bravo TV's "The Real Housewives." This bold move aimed to announce its comprehensive brand overhaul.
The Case
Fiber One, a prominent American brand known for providing an array of delectable snacks that balance indulgence with fiber content1, is part of General Mills, Inc., a multinational powerhouse in the consumer foods industry.2 In 2019, Fiber One underwent a transformative rebranding initiative, encompassing a complete update of packaging, recipes, and flavors. Notably, their Brownies saw a significant shift, reducing from 90 calories, 12g net carbs, and 8g of sugar to 70 calories, 5g net carbs, and 2g of sugar.3
The Challenge
Fiber One's goal was twofold: to adopt a more modern appeal for health-conscious consumers by altering its recipe and to captivate younger generations through a unique product release strategy involving a music video clip and reality TV influencers.
From traditional to trendy
Since its inception in 1985, Fiber One has garnered a loyal customer base with its initial recipe. While the brand aimed to make its new recipe "compatible with most modern diet trends"3, reducing sugar, carbs, and calories posed the risk of alienating existing customers. However, this risk was balanced by the opportunity to enter the competitive yet lucrative market of healthy consumer products.
A Grand “Introduction”
To showcase the brand transformation, Fiber One collaborated with reality TV personalities Melissa Gorga, Porsha Williams, Sonja Morgan, Dorinda Medley, and Tamra Judge, creating a music video clip titled "work done". The campaign cleverly played on the beauty enhancement theme, equating the rebranding to having "work done," a term often used proudly in reality TV to signify cosmetic enhancements.
Pop Culture: A Strategic Move For Brands
Earlier in the year, Expensify, an expense management software, collaborated with rapper 2 Chainz and Adam Scott for an ad campaign. Fiber One's decision to announce its rebranding through a music video clip aligns with the trend of brands associating themselves with pop culture figures on platforms like YouTube. This trend signifies the shift of millennial and Gen Z audiences from traditional screens to smaller screens, where music videos and reality TV garner millions of views, offering a substantial return on investment compared to traditional advertising formats.
Good Or Bad Practice?
While Fiber One's use of effective marketing communications (MarCom) techniques increased brand awareness, the choice of a music video clip for rebranding purposes is debatable. This type of "ad" blurs the line between entertainment and advertising, as entire songs are created with minimal product mentions. Although successful in terms of brand awareness, it does not guarantee product adoption and brand loyalty.
Despite MarCom success and influencer collaborations, negative comments on social media4 revealed that consumers were primarily concerned about the product itself, indicating potential areas for recipe improvement. A more prudent approach would have involved gathering customer feedback and refining the product before extensive MarCom investments. Instead, the video clip launch drew attention to the product issues, necessitating increased social media efforts to address customer concerns.
This serves as a reminder that businesses should allocate sufficient time to develop products and services before investing substantial budgets in MarCom actions to publicize them.