Taco Bell announced on Friday, the National Doughnut Day, that it is adding Cap’n Crunch Delights, warm donut holes covered in Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries cereal and filled with “milk icing,”  starting July 2, as reported by  Time. The chain started testing the item in select locations in February, selling packs of two for $1.00, four for $1.69 or 12 for $4.49.

According to BrandEating review, Cap’n Crunch Delights make for a unique taste experience… “Pretty good, especially if you’re a fan of Cap’n Crunch cereal. The bits of cereal deliver a nice crunch and a bulk of the flavor. The milk filling is more liquidy and more neutral than the cream cheese version. Basically, it’s a warm donut hole that tastes a lot like Cap’n Crunch cereal and looks like a giant Crunch Berry”.

For the two brands Cap’n Crunch, owned by Quaker Oats Company and Taco Bell a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, the addition of Cap’n Crunch cereal to Taco Bell’s breakfast menu will engage consumers with a familiar cereal in a newer Breakfast experience, while Taco Bell will be able to add to the Breakfast offering.

The alliance paves a new way for the two brands seeking to grow the market share and at the same time generate buzz. Social Media channels allow greater flexibility for Brands to use characters and brand mnemonics to evoke empathy with well-known characters making the brand proposition more resonant.

The announcement was made on the National Doughnut Day when most consumers are likely to be interested in similar offers.

Five Ways For Brands To  Co-Promote New Products With An Alliance

 

Identify the Consumer segment and the right alliance. To build an alliance with a brand, as a brand marketer you need to clearly understand the goal that you are trying to achieve. In case you are look at acquiring greater market share from a segment, then the alliance and the marketing mix has to be aligned to achieve the goal.

Use Influencer Marketing. As can be seen from the case of content that has gone Viral e.g. #The Dress, Influencers can make your brand or offer seen by audiences in the right context. A post about the product on a review site brings about greater engagement.

Use Social Media Channels. As seen from Taco  Bell and Cap’n Crunch Tweets the exchange of Tweets helps audiences connect with product being launched making the context clear.

Announce the Product To Your Brand Community. As seen in this case Taco Bell has announced the availability of the product on its’ Facebook page, engaging nearly 30,000 fans within a day which makes the audience interest and consumer enthusiasm evident.

Cascade The Organic Effort. As a follow-through to the product launch, it is important to cascade the organic effort with paid social media advertising, for brand awareness. The audiences that engage with your initial post can help you create custom or look-alike audiences and Tailored Audiences. The media choices may vary depending on your audiences’ media habits.