Strategy

If you have spent any amount of time with small children in the past four years (or have spent time with adults who spend time with children), you’re probably familiar with the massively popular Korean jingle “Baby Shark”. Created by educational company Pinkfong, the song has captivated kids to an extent that might even surpass “Let it Go” – it currently has over 3.1 billion views on YouTube, putting it in the top 10 most viewed videos in the site’s history.

Its success as an earworm has spawned a new branded cereal line, launched by Kellogg’s. Cereal has always been a great medium for limited-edition flavor exploration and creative gimmicks, but this is among the first to find inspiration in a song.

We’ve published pieces on audio branding in the past, and Baby Shark cereal serves as a great case study that proves the importance of audio. While brand jingles have been around for ages, the digital era has ushered in new opportunities for going viral. This is especially true for children’s products – not only do young kids essentially rule YouTube, they are also less critical of advertising. This is to say, they are more likely to take a catchy tune at face-value, appreciating it in a way that is difficult to replicate with Gen Z and millennial shoppers.

We have no doubt that Baby Shark cereal will sell well during its run. It has a built-in consumer base of obsessed fans of the song, and other brands will surely be looking to this campaign as an example of a company successfully riding the wave of the Internet.

The limited-edition nature of the product is also very important here. The Internet moves incredibly quickly, and brands have struggled to keep up for years. By making it a limited run, Kellogg’s is able to cash in and get out in time for the Internet’s next big craze.