Sometimes a small change can have a big impact
“Small changes can produce big results - but the areas of highest leverage are often the least obvious.”
Shreddies are a square-shaped breakfast cereal made up from a lattice of whole wheat.
First introduced in 1939, they are popular in households across the UK, Canada and New Zealand.
But like every new product, they eventually became yesterday’s news.
In 2008, Kraft Foods went to the advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather in Toronto with this problem: their once popular cereal brand had been toppled from its top spot.
However, it wasn’t all bad news.
Although sales were down, consumers were still happy with the product. If the recipe didn’t need changing, how could they make it seem new again?
The story goes that during one of the agency’s brainstorming sessions, Hunter Somerville, a 26-year-old intern, held up one of the Shreddies and joked, “It isn’t a square; it’s a diamond.”
From that nugget, the idea for ‘Diamond Shreddies’ was born.
This witty campaign is a great case study for demonstrating intangible added value. The idea is clever because it plays with our perception of something familiar.
There’s often an assumption that something must make a significant change to be effective.
However, as this example demonstrates, the smallest alterations can have a disproportionately large impact.
Creativity is a vital skill for any company. The ability to solve problems and spot new opportunities separates those who survive and prosper from those who fail.
Check out our Creativity for Business course if you’re interested in how creativity can transform your business.
