Kraft Foods' recent decision to reposition its Dairylea brand highlights the tightrope marketers walk when promoting snacks destined for school lunchboxes. This is particularly salient when it comes to products that are high in saturated fat, sugar or salt (HFSS).
British children consume 5.5bn packed lunches a year, and the content of these is under growing scrutiny by health campaigners and others that take an interest in the food eaten in schools.
Meanwhile, the UK's rules governing the marketing of HFSS products to children are among the strictest in the world. They include a ban on advertising during children's television programmes as well as those that are likely to be watched by a significant number of children. Moreover, it is a stipulation that Ofcom does not intend to relax.
According to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the University of Leeds, 82% of children's packed lunches contain HFSS food such as crisps and biscuits. While some view such statistics as yet another stick with which to beat parents, it seems that Dairylea's latest strapline, 'It's good to be free' - a reference to its 'free-from' health credentials - may prove to be a canny move.
Parent power
'The spreadable cheese brand is designed to appeal to kids through its flavour and packaging,' says Kraft corporate affairs director Jonathan Horrell. 'However, market research reveals that parents overwhelmingly want to be reassured that there are no artificial colours, preservatives or flavours (in the food consumed by their children).'
For other snack brands, however, there is only so much they can do to strip out HFSS ingredients without compromising quality or taste.
'People talk about children's pester power, but that's the same in every sector, right up to the choices made about which family car to buy,' says Tom Lamb, head of the marketing to families unit at integrated agency Billington Cartmell. 'The brands that do very well are those that make the emotional connection with mum.'
As such, the default setting for child-friendly snacks is to focus on messages and promotions surrounding healthy living, family days out and educational support.
One example is Walker's 'Brit Trips' campaign, offering half-price tickets to attractions such as Alton Towers, Chessington World of Adventures and Legoland.
Other tactics include providing online resources for parents. As part of a £3m promotion of its 'all-natural' recipe, Nesquik has launched a multimedia website featuring an 'imagination station', which provides recipe ideas, nutritional information and suggestions about how to keep children active. Nesquik is also part of brand owner Nestle's 'Get set, go free' family activity promotion.
Then there is the use of cartoon characters, which is still possible, despite the ban on licensed characters and celebrities in the promotion of HFSS food to nursery-aged and younger children.
Last month, for instance, Weetabix rolled out a campaign supporting its tie-up with the Disney Pixar movie Toy Story 3, albeit for its Weetos breakfast cereal, which is not designed to appeal specifically to children.
In addition, the ban does not extend to food manufacturers' own cartoon characters, such as Quicky the Nesquik Bunny and Dairylea's cow, Moo.
Kellogg, meanwhile, relies on characters such as Tony the Tiger, Coco the Monkey and Snap, Crackle and Pop.
'These characters predate the childhood obesity problem we now face,' says a spokesman for the company. 'Banning characters such as Tony from advertising is not the magic bullet we all seek.'
He adds: 'The fact that Ofcom has set no restrictions on the use of these kinds of characters in advertising to children would seem to support our view.'
However, with the FSA reporting that less than 50% of school lunchboxes meet the nutritional standards set by the government in 2008, the calls for snack manufacturers to offer healthier choices for children or face stricter regulation may get louder.