As consumer journeys become increasingly fragmented across OTT, social media, open internet and quick-commerce platforms, brands are looking beyond traditional, linear marketing funnels to build connected consumer journeys. Kellogg’s Multi Grain Corn Flakes is one such example. In partnership with Criteo, Kellogg’s deployed a cross-channel, full-funnel strategy designed to build awareness, move consumers into consideration and ultimately drive conversions. The campaign delivered an average weekly reach of 2.1-2.3 million consumers on OTT, with 85-87% average Video Interaction Rate (VIR) on OTT, while 97% of buyers were new to the brand the companies announced at the Criteo Commerce Forum India 2026.
The Challenge was to Reignite a Maturing Category
Kellogg’s wanted to reignite the breakfast cereal category with the launch of Multi Grain Corn Flakes. Rather than focusing solely on bottom-of-the-funnel conversions, the objective was to build awareness for the new product, create consideration among relevant breakfast-cereal consumers and convert those audiences into new customers.
Dhriv Vohra, Head of Digital Marketing, Mars Snacking, explains, the brand’s partnership with Criteo had already evolved significantly from its early focus on driving clicks and e-commerce traffic: “Criteo has been one of our partners since 2023. When we started, we were very focused on getting clicks and landing people on our e-commerce channels. But it has evolved over time. Every year, Criteo brings in something new, and we take something new from that.”
The partnership had moved beyond click-led campaigns into audience discovery, food-delivery signals and, eventually, full-funnel, cross-channel activations. “It did not just remain a click journey. We went ahead and worked with food delivery apps. We said, ‘At Kellogg’s, we want to reach breakfast-eating audiences. How best can we do that?’ We took signals from food delivery apps and made sure we were showing them Kellogg’s ads. At least we knew they were eating breakfast.”
The Objective of the Campaign
For the Multi Grain Corn Flakes launch, Kellogg’s wanted to:
- Build broad awareness among relevant breakfast-cereal consumers.
- Reignite interest in the corn flakes category.
- Reach new-to-brand consumers.
- Move consumers from awareness to consideration and conversion.
- Drive incremental sales and improve penetration.
- Build a connected consumer journey across OTT, Meta and the Open Internet.
The strategy was therefore designed around the entire consumer journey rather than a single channel or isolated campaign objective.
The Strategy Used
Criteo and Kellogg’s built a cross-channel and full-funnel strategy around consumer signals from multiple quick-commerce ecosystems.
1. Identifying Breakfast-Cereal Audiences
The campaign leveraged transactional signals from multiple quick-commerce ecosystems to identify audiences with an affinity for breakfast cereals.
This enabled Kellogg’s to move beyond broad demographic targeting and identify consumers based on relevant shopping behaviour.
The campaign reached 55% of identified breakfast audiences.
2. Building Awareness Through OTT and CTV
The identified audiences were activated on OTT and CTV to build awareness for Multi Grain Corn Flakes.
The campaign achieved an average weekly reach of 2.1-2.3 million consumers on OTT.
It also delivered an 85-87% average Video Interaction Rate (VIR) on OTT, above industry benchmarks.
3. Retargeting Engaged Audiences
Consumers who had already been exposed to the video campaign were subsequently retargeted across the Open Internet and Meta.
This created a connected path from awareness to consideration and conversion.
Criteo’s DCO+ technology was used to support the downstream retargeting strategy.
The Meta and Open Web retargeting activity generated 958K+ clicks, with a 0.7% CTR.
The Results: 97% New-to-Brand Buyers
The full-funnel approach delivered strong acquisition results, particularly in bringing new consumers into the Kellogg’s fold.
Key Results
- 2.1-2.3 million average weekly reach on OTT
- 85-87% average VIR on OTT, above industry benchmarks
- 55% of breakfast audiences reached
- 958K+ clicks through Meta and Open Web retargeting
- 0.7% CTR on retargeting
- 97% new-to-brand buyers
For Kellogg’s, the ability to acquire new consumers was particularly significant.
“We were doing this to gain new customers into the fold. Essentially, we wanted to reignite the corn flakes category, get more consumers in, increase our penetration and get new-to-brand consumers.” Dhriv adds that the quick-commerce channel also delivered particularly strong growth during the campaign. “The impact was immense. This channel grew two times more than any other channels that we were advertising on. And because we went from awareness down into consideration, people could get and make those decisions faster.”
Moving Beyond Clicks
The campaign reflects how Kellogg’s approach to digital advertising has evolved over its partnership with Criteo. What started in 2023 as a relatively straightforward objective of driving clicks and traffic to e-commerce platforms has expanded into audience intelligence, cross-channel activation and full-funnel marketing. “We started merely with click campaigns, getting more clicks on e-commerce. Then we went on to finding more audiences with you guys. Then we found out, ‘Hey, we could probably do all of this together, full funnel.’”
For Dhriv, the next phase is about continuing to follow consumers wherever they spend their time online. “People are spending most of their time on Meta and the Open Internet. And now, what I hear is the LLMs and the OpenAI partnerships. I’m very excited about that phase, and I think that’s where we are going to be evolving with Criteo.”
The Road Ahead
The Kellogg’s-Criteo partnership demonstrates how consumer brands can move from isolated media activations to a connected, full-funnel approach. By combining transactional signals from quick-commerce platforms with OTT/CTV awareness campaigns and subsequent retargeting across Meta and the Open Internet, Kellogg’s was able to connect different stages of the consumer journey.
The results, particularly 97% new-to-brand acquisition, 2.1-2.3 million average weekly OTT reach and 958K+ retargeting clicks, highlight the potential of using cross-channel signals to build both scale and measurable business outcomes. From clicks to audience intelligence, and from individual channels to full-funnel activation, the partnership is now moving toward its next phase, which is with AI and emerging platforms likely to play an increasingly important role.
