The Road More Traveled

Earnest Eats, the California company known for their high protein oatmeals and trail mixes, has launched PRO Toasty, a ‘Pop Tart’-like pastry loaded with 10g of protein (collagen protein and almond butter) and probiotics.

So What?
Have you been to the snack bar aisle of a big box grocery store lately? What started out 20 years ago as a sleepy 3ft section next to the cereal is now 15ft of confusion. What diet are you on? What are your lifestyle goals? What activity do you like to participate in? Somewhere in this section is a chewy rectangle with your name on it!

Realizing the need for differentiation and incrementality, manufacturers have tried mini-bars, giant bars, balls, chunks and every iteration of texture you can think of but, in the end, they’re all just snack bars. Some bold companies have attempted protein cookies, and the somehow classier breakfast biscuits, but they haven’t reached the dominance of snack bars. I would contend that moving beyond bars has been difficult because all of the other forms have required expensive re-education, something not in the cards for cash-strapped CPG. “You see this giant chocolate chip cookie,’ we are saying, ‘think of it now like a granola bar. It’s healthy, you should eat it every morning.’ As for morning biscuits, while a common coffee or tea accompaniment in Europe and with an older American demographic, they have a dry, crumbly texture that necessitates the constant presence of a beverage; not very conducive to the morning commute or texting.

That’s why these PRO Toasties intrigue me. If you grew up in North America in the last 55 years, Pop Tarts were part of your childhood. While likely novel at their inception, the Kellogg marketing machine of the 1960's, 70's and 80's efficiently indoctrinated all of us on how and when to eat toaster pastries. For legions of kids, Pop Tarts were the original grab and go food. At the bus stop, on the walk to school, or in-between classes, Pop Tarts were a ubiquitous part of childhood snacking. Therefore, for today’s adults the education into how to think about and use them comes pre-installed. All you have to do is rebrand and reformulate them for adult taste and nutritional sensibilities, and you can be a kid again.

The larger lesson here is about letting the marketing efforts of others benefit you. Instead of forging a new path with your consumer, consider what other products and brands have already done the hard work for you. Is there an existing behavior that you can attach yourself to?