Kellogg 's Special K has been Sweden's most popular breakfast cereal for decades. Recently there has been a rise in private labels copying its taste.

To revive Special K, Kellogg’s decided to change their recipe for the first time in 17 years. But in order for the public to rediscover the brand Kellogg’s needed to find a fun way for them to try it and spread the news.

The objective was to increase awareness of the new Special K through earned media. The goal was 1,000,000 in traditional media reach and 5,000 in social reach.

The strategy was to create an activity where consumers could physically interact with the new product and lead to digital distribution. We used Instagram as a platform for the campaign, plus targeted earned media before and after the launch of the pop-up store to extend the campaign.

The solution was the world’s first Instashop, a pop up store in central Stockholm, where no money was accepted. Instead customers used social currency by uploading a photo of Special K to Instagram, hashtagged it and swapped it for a box of cereal. During the one day the store was open it was seen by 250,000 people and a box of cereal was bought every other minute.

News of the Instashop got huge media attention. The story was covered in 36 countries. Total media reach was 21.6 million and reached 5.9 million on Twitter. The ROI of the campaign was 9,888 %.

We created the world’s first Instashop, a pop up store during one day in central Stockholm, where no money was accepted. Instead customers used social currency by uploading a photo of Special K to Instagram, hashtagged it and swapped it for a box of cereal.

The shop was aimed to imitate a regular store to encourage people and media to snap a photo of it. The store was provided with a cash desk, shop personal, shelves with products and shopping bags.

Prior to the opening we spread the news that everyone was welcome to the Instashop. Media were targeted with the message that Kellogg's for the first time enables Swedes to buy a box of cereal with an Instagram-photo.

We used the hashtag #nyaspecialk (New Special K) throughout the campaign. We continued to communicate after the opening by using content consumers created when interacting with the pop-up shop.

The story was covered in 36 countries. Media reach was 21.6 million (2160 % of goal). The store sparked a discussion on Twitter reaching 5.9 million users worldwide (1,180% of goal).

Consumers made personal posts on Instagram about the new Special K, which helped to build credibility for the product. Using Instagram photos as social currency also facilitated visual communication, which further increased product recognition and help differentiate Special K from private label copies. Market data from Nielsen shows that Special K is the best-selling cereal product in Sweden. The return on investment of the campaign was 9,888%.