Seeking to move away from the supermarket candy-stand mentality, Nestle USA Inc. is employing an online branding campaign with brand sites that aim to mix education with entertainment.
In for this treatment are three Nestle beverages — Nesquik, Juicy Juice and Juicy Juice Score — and the SweeTarts candy. The beverage sites are rich with games, animation, music and promotions.
The SweeTarts site wasn't up yesterday, and it was unknown when it would debut.
“In a way we're very much competing with and taking mind share away from a Nick.com or from other sites like FoxKids.com,” said Eric Ayzenberg, CEO and creative director of Nestle agency Ayzenberg Group, Pasadena, CA.
Ayzenberg's assignment leverages Nestle's existing “Very Best” brand identity and the VeryBestKids.com platform that houses all company food brands in the United States.
The key mandate from Nestle, Glendale, CA, was to create an entertainment experience for children built around the four brands. In essence, the Swiss-owned confectionery giant wants to use kids' entertainment time as opposed to their candy-eating time.
Launched this month, each site capitalizes on the brand's personality or mascots, seeking to build relationships with children and parents.
Nesquik.com invites kids to play games with the familiar Nesquik bunny in his treehouse. They include the Nesquik Challenge and Nesquik Chocolate Mountain Challenge, where kids snowboard on a mountain of chocolate.
The nation's leading chocolate milk drink, Nesquik targets children ages 6 to 12. But the Web site is likely to appeal to the core demographic of ages 8 to 10.
Images of the various Nesquik flavors are prominent throughout Nesquik.com.
Juicy Juice, as a 100 percent premium juice brand aimed at kids ages 3 to 6, is more of a lap-surfing site: Parents help their children navigate JuicyJuice.com, playing games and listening to online stories along the way.
Then there is Juicy Juice Score, a sub-brand of Juicy Juice that targets ages 9 to 12. A sporty drink that is only 10 percent juice, Score is available only in the Southeast.
For JuicyJuiceScore.com, Ayzenberg created games like archery, mountain climbing, rafting, baseball and Rollerblading.
NestleSweeTarts.com is likely to appeal to a core 9-to-12-year-old group with its Instant Artist paint program. Functioning like a Photoshop program, visitors can display their creative talent on the site.
Of course, all the sites will highlight the various brands and sub-brands. Future promotions likely will be linked to store visits, though there is no overt sales message for now.
“It was a very conscious effort not to make the site sales-oriented,” Ayzenberg said. “They're not hitting the consumer over the head with the brand. We try to keep it subtle.”
