In a market where breakfast cereals often fall into two extremes – nostalgic sugar-laden treats or bland, health-oriented alternatives – Surreal Cereal has carved a niche by blending the best of both worlds.
With a mission to deliver the joy of childhood cereals minus the guilt, Surreal has emerged as a disruptive force in an industry dominated by legacy players like Kellogg’s and modern challengers like Magic Spoon. It has been making waves with its creative and bold marketing campaigns.
Disrupting Breakfasts
Surreal was founded in 2021 by Jac Chetland and Kit Gammell. In the west, cereal is a staple breakfast. But it’s also very sugary. Amid the growing awareness about nutrition and choosing healthier options, breakfasts that are high-protein are usually not as simple and quick as a cereal.
So, the inspiration behind Surreal is simple yet profound: a gluten-free, sugar-free, and vegan cereal that is flavorful – a combination that appeals to health-conscious consumers without compromising on taste. They take the comfort and nostalgia of childhood cereals and reimagine them creatively to meet modern nutritional standards.
At its core, Surreal is about transforming a guilty pleasure into a guilt-free experience. This dual focus on nostalgia and nutrition has helped Surreal capture the hearts (and breakfast bowls) of millennials, Gen Z, and beyond. Within the first year itself, they achieved a revenue of £1.5 million!
Brand Positioning
Who isn’t nostalgic for simpler, playful childhood days, right? We often don’t get the chance to enjoy the same things we did as kids because of adulthood and the endless tasks that come with it. But something as simple as breakfast can also be a nostalgic reminder.
So, “The kind of cereal we loved as kids, made for today,” perfectly encapsulates Surreal’s brand promise. For many, breakfast cereals are not just food but a symbol of carefree childhood days. By tapping into this emotional connection, Surreal positions itself as more than just a product – it’s a time machine in a box.
Unlike traditional cereal brands that rely heavily on mascots and sugary sweetness, Surreal’s approach is minimalist and modern. Its packaging is bold, featuring bright colors and clean typography that evoke the playfulness of childhood. The absence of mascots and exaggerated claims reflects a commitment to transparency.
The brand’s ability to deliver on taste while maintaining the nutritional credentials is what sets it apart in a crowded market.
Marketing Strategies: Clever, Bold, and Relatable
Humor as a Brand Weapon:
As long as humor aligns with the messaging of the brand, it is one of the most effective ways to be memorable. As a new brand competing with legacy brands like Kelloggs, Surreal needed to catch attention. And it did so brilliantly.
The brand’s tone is cheeky, irreverent, and refreshingly self-aware. Their campaigns often poke fun without being offensive. This tongue-in-cheek messaging resonates with consumers tired of overhyped diet trends.
Out-of-Home (OOH) Advertising:
Surreal’s OOH campaigns are equally bold and memorable. Instead of traditional health-focused messaging, their billboards feature sarcastic slogans. For instance, in January 2024, they released this:
Or this one, based on the insight that adult cereal options can be tasteless, like cardboard –
Or this, where they used public digital advertising spaces with vibrant colors that are obviously bad design-wise (but they redeem themselves with the right one) –
These campaigns stand out in a sea of generic advertising and invite consumers to engage with the brand on a deeper level.
Marketing for Marketers:
They created an entire campaign directly targeting marketers –
Not only are they advertising brilliantly, they are actively showing it off to other marketers! A good way to create buzz among the community.
Do you think this campaign prompted marketing media channels (like us?!) to cover the brand’s campaigns, which became free word-of-mouth for the Surreal?
The “Fake Celebrity” Campaign:
Celebrity collaborations cost a fortune – something that Surreal couldn’t afford as a new brand. But by now, we know that Surreal is crazy with out-of-box thinking. So, in a brilliant spoof of traditional celebrity endorsements, Surreal’s “Fake Celebrity” campaign featured non-famous “celebrities” like Dwayne Johnson, their bus driver.
This unconventional approach not only saved on costly endorsements but also reinforced the brand’s quirky and relatable image. The campaign generated significant buzz on social media (this is how I came across the brand as well) with 4.1K+ reactions on the brand’s Instagram video of the commercial.
This proves that authenticity and creativity can outperform big budgets.
LinkedIn as a Marketing Channel:
LinkedIn? For a cereal brand? ABSURD. Maybe that’s why it worked for them. (I do hope not all brands jump on a bandwagon and make Instagram out of LinkedIn).
In a space dominated by corporate jargon, Surreal’s posts stand out with their playful and sarcastic tone. For example, they announced their cereal’s availability in Sainsbury’s with the caption: “Now stocked in Sainsbury’s because our mum said we should grow up.”
This relatability fosters a sense of connection and community among their audience.
P.S. These retail partnerships also invite new customers with large footfalls, giving the brand increased visibility. Not only on LinkedIn, the brand is also active on Instagram with 78.7K followers. I especially loved this (can you guess why?):
Fail → Tweak → Succeed
For their banana-flavored cereal, Surreal decided that two colleagues would pose in their underwear. Though it was expected to go viral, it completely flopped.
BUT, instead of taking it down completely, they tweaked it with a warning of ‘graphic nudity’ – this is much more likely to grab attention, right? It did perform better than the first one.
Key Takeaways from Surreal’s Marketing
- Emotional Resonance Matters:
Nostalgia is a powerful tool. Brands that can tap into emotional connections while staying relevant to modern values have a significant advantage.
- Authenticity Over Perfection:
Surreal’s quirky, self-aware tone makes it relatable and trustworthy. Consumers today crave brands that are genuine, even if they’re not always polished.
- Humor Works:
In a world of serious health claims and corporate jargon, humor can be a refreshing change. When done right, it can humanize a brand and make it memorable.
- Transparency Builds Trust:
In an era where consumers are bombarded with exaggerated marketing claims, straightforwardness can be a game-changer.
