According to the CSIRO Institute of Research, despite 50% of Australians experiencing gut health problems, two-thirds still aren’t meeting their daily recommended intake of fibre.

With the gut being at the center of all health, this means there are millions of Australian families who experience ongoing issues due to an imbalance in the gut.

Kellogg’s wanted Australian families across the country to learn about how their high fibre cereals help feed a healthy gut, and how that affects overall health. We needed to raise awareness of this health issue and understanding of how to take actions to fix it.

The challenge was to communicate a heavily scientific and complex message, in a way that felt engaging and entertaining.

So, how do you get families to care about something they can’t see?

We made the invisible, visible by creating Kellogg’s Gut Bacteria Reef. The world’s first VR game set inside the human gut.

Players immersed themselves in the interactive experience, exploring the reef-like world from the perspective of a tiny submarine. Armed with high fibre cereal, they battled bad bacteria, and completed tasks to learn about different sources of fibre along the way.

By highlighting the similarity between The Great Barrier Reef (an ecosystem all Australians want to protect) and our own gut, we made the importance of a fibre-rich diet both clear and entertaining.

The ongoing sugar debate has created a perception that cereal isn’t a healthy breakfast option, when in fact a recent audit on the nutritional quality of breakfast cereals in Australia conducted by Grains and Legumes Nutrition Council (GLNC) confirms the important role of the breakfast cereal category as a leading source of whole grains and fibre in the diet — which Australians are clearly lacking.

Kellogg’s needed to re-educate Australian families that their high fibre cereal range helps balance the good and bad bacteria in your gut. They wanted to teach parents and kids alike through a vehicle that turns a dry and heavily scientific subject into an entertaining and engaging one. To be successful, we needed to raise awareness about the importance of looking after your gut bacteria.

As a nation-wide brand, it needed both mass scale PR and 1-2-1 experiences.

Our gamified exploration of the gut engaged at every level.

To drive fame and get the game in more young hands, we set up a VR activation at The Sydney Aquarium during school holidays. There we blended virtual and reality, using the space to reinforce parallels between the ecosystem within and the Great Barrier Reef.

Kellogg’s is stocked in every major supermarket across the country. So for mass reach we made every pack of Sultana Bran, Special K, All Bran and Guardian a portal to play. Linking families to the game on STEAM via QR code. A full 360 experience was also available to a wider audience through YouTube.

So whether you were at the experience, the breakfast table or just browsing the internet, Kellogg’s Gut Bacteria Reef was there to entertain and educate both parents and kids.

In a category where 90% of people skip watching after 5 seconds, AVERAGE PLAYTHROUGH TIME WAS 7 MINUTES. MEANING FAMILIES WERE ENGAGING WITH A PREVIOUSLY IGNORED ISSUE.

The Activation had 5000 visitors a day, with 10 million media impressions. The live broadcast went out on National news television, and was viewed by approximately one third of the population.

On pack our game reached 63% of Australian Households - a bigger audience than any other physical publication in Australia.

Our sales numbers were up 5% in comparison to the previous year.