NEW YORK (AP) — The sporting events may be where all the action is at the Olympics, but Kellogg's new Olympic-themed campaign is focusing on what happens before the big event: Breakfast.
The food maker's campaign, tagged "From Great Starts Come Great Things," kicks off on Wednesday, 100 days before the Olympics are to begin in London. The push includes videos on Facebook, Olympic-themed packaging on a products and athlete sponsorships, all centered on breakfast. Kellogg's makes breakfast food including Corn Flakes and Special K cereal, Eggo Waffles and Nutri-Grain bars.
"The finish seems to get all the credit but we're champions of the start," said Doug VanDeVelde, vice president of marketing and innovation for the snacks and cereal division of Kellogg. "It's a new idea for us."
For its Olympic breakfast campaign, Kellogg is sponsoring eight U.S. athletes including soccer player Juan Aguedelo, swimmers Summer Sanders and Rebecca Soni and beach volleyball player Kerri Walsh. Kellogg's will post videos of their "start stories," as in how they got started in sports, on Facebook, and link to them on Twitter.
Soni's video, for example, shows the gold medal winner discussing how nutrition and breakfast contribute to her training.
In addition to the "start story" videos, Kellogg's developed 20 videos about nutrition and will also post them on the company's Facebook page, VanDeVelde said.
TV ads are included in the campaign, but VanDeVelde said social media was a big focus in the lead up to the Olympics.
"I think this will be the most digital Olympics ever," VanDeVelde said. "That's where technology has gone due to consumers and the growth of tablets and mobile devices."
The 2012 London Olympics kick off on July 27.