Kellogg’s Special K cereal brand is hoping to drive sales for a new snack product with a click-to-map mobile advertising campaign to lure consumers into retailers.

The consumer packaged goods brand is using the mobile ads to introduce a new 70-calorie snack bar that is the size of three bites. The Special K ads are running within the Weatherbug iPhone application.

“New product promotion is extremely well suited to a location-based ad strategy, especially when an offer is included,” said Cezar Kolodziej, CEO/president of Iris Mobile, Chicago. “In fact, 78 percent of smartphone users are likely to purchase if provided with incentives based on location.

“It is also important to consider how customers will redeem these offers on the go, and enabling a channel like messaging to run location-based campaigns may further improve results,” he said.

Mr. Kolodziej is not affiliated with Kellogg. He commented based on his expertise on the subject.

Kellogg did not respond to press inquiries.

Driving in-store traffic?
The ads feature animation that scroll over to read, “Whatever the moment, treat yourself right.”

The banner ads also include a picture of the new Special K Moments product next to another piece of copy that gives consumers nutritional information about the snack.

The ad then leverages a mobile device’s built-in GPS to show consumers the distance to the nearest retailer that sells the Kellogg product.

A click-through on the ad brings up a map of the three closest locations. Each location pulls in directions and contact information into a mobile landing page.

An additional click on a location leads to a zoomed-in map where consumers can see the exact location of the retail store where the Special K products are available.

The Kellogg ad is the latest example showing how CPG brands are leveraging location to customize mobile ads and increase in-store traffic and sales.

CPG brands are known for leveraging mobile purely for branding, but as more consumers are turning to their mobile devices to build shopping lists and find deals, there is increasingly more of a hyperlocal focus for marketers.

In this case, the location-specific ad is likely a stronger influencer in keeping a brand top-of-mind for a consumer. However, the ad would be more effective with a coupon or time-sensitive deal that helped Kellogg close the loop on its campaign.

Another screenshot of the ad

Past initiatives
In addition to mobile media, Special K also has a mobile app that helps consumers track and manage their weight goals.

The brand revamped its strategy around the myPlan Special K app in January 2012 with new features that let consumers log-in from multiple devices to view their progress (see story).

In May 2013, the brand ran a mobile advertising campaign in both English and Spanish within Us Magazine’s mobile site to drive downloads for the app (see story).

“CPG brands like Kellogg often target the busy mom demographic, and for this audience proximity is an essential factor in driving purchasing behavior,” Mr. Kolodziej said.

“Offering a promotion coupled with location information is a smart way to provide value that thoughtfully integrates with these customer’s lives, especially when the offer is sent to and stored on a mobile device for easy access and use,” he said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York