Optivita axed

Kellogg’s has axed cholesterol-lowering cereal brand Optivita.

The company this week said it wanted to focus on other brands and would be dropping Optivita after eight years on the market. Retail sales had dropped below £2.5m, with value down 27.6% year on year on volumes down 28.4% [IRI 52w/e 16 August 2014].

“We regularly review our range and we have decided to delist Optivita,” said a Kellogg’s spokeswoman. “Demand for Optivita has declined in recent years and we have decided to focus on our core brands like Special K and All-Bran as well as category events such as our Give A Child A Breakfast campaign.”

Optivita was launched in 2006 following a report from Which? criticising the levels of salt and sugar in breakfast cereals. The delisting comes less than six months after Kellogg’s revamped Optivita in a bid to reverse falling sales.

Branding experts said Optivita had struggled to find the right identity.

The brand had been “soulless,” said Don Williams of branding agency Pi Global. “Optivita had weak branding with a clichéd, leaping silhouette that was replaced by an uninspired black logo surrounded by a heart device devoid of any real distinction or character. Without a credible personality a brand is merely a product.”

Optivita was sitting in the world of ‘old school’ health, said Claire Nuttall of Thrive Unlimited. “Healthy growth is coming from accessible, chatty, natural brands that talk to people rather than dictate and shout their health credentials.”