General Mills Bags It with Bugles - Brief Article

To become more consistent with the bulk of its salty snack competitors, General Mills is altering the packaging on its line of Bugles snacks, putting the six varieties of flavored corn snacks into a bag rather than a box and flagging the change on package as well as in TV advertising, promotions and POP.

The new bag, more conducive to on-the-go snacking, begins shipping this week and will be touted on spot TV in a 30-second ad, via Campbell Mithun Esty, Minneapolis, the second in a series featuring Nascar driver Mark Martin. The ad features Martin stopping during practice to eat Bugles out of a bag after hearing the crunch of the snacks from a fan in the stands. Tagline remains, "Bugles: The taste that's a blast," but will aver "Now in a bag!" FSIs and in-store displays will also tout the new packaging change.

Mills' efforts for Bugles are likely the result of sales declines for the brand, largely due to increased competition in the $437 million corn snacks segment. Bugles are facing encroachment from Frito-Lay's Doritos 3Ds, which have grown to $26 million in sales since their launch in December of last year (Brandweek, Oct. 13, 1997), and more recently from Procter & Gamble's new Eagle corn twists with Olestra (Brandweek, Aug. 24), both of which are offered in bags.

Bugles, which come in Original, Nacho, Sour Cream & Onion and Smokin' BBQ flavors, saw sales declines of 4.5% to $50 million dollars for the year ending Aug. 16, according to Information Resources. The brand's two baked varieties, under the Bugles Light banner, were up .4% to $2.3 million for the same time period.

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