Continuing its business slump, a new review of Kellogg’s brand, as calculated on the value of the company’s name, shows the company took another dip, falling from 74th most valuable brand to 84th over last year’s rating. In addition, the company’s brand fell 24 spots since 2014.
According to calculations by Brand Finance’s Brand Directory, Kellogg has been steadily falling at least since 2014. According to the group’s ratings, the cereal giant figured in as the 60th most valued company in 2014. But over each of the ensuing years, that assessment has dropped.
In 2015, Kellogg was the 68th most valued company in the country; in 2016, it fell eight more slots to 76; and with its latest measurement, Brand Finance says Kellogg has fallen eight more slots to 84. The company has seen a drop of 24 slots in just four years.
Brand Finance calculates a company’s brand on its earnings, stock, and profits and then measures all that to determine how much a given company would pay to license its brand as if it did not own it.
The Brand Finance rating isn’t the only example of trouble for the breakfast food company. The Michigan-based company has also seen its stock falling since last year. Kellogg’s stock closed last week at $72.61 per share, down from its 52-week high of $87.16.
Kellogg has been experiencing major business contractions, too, especially over the last year. The company has been desperately cutting its work force and downsizing facilities at least since last December. In January, Kellogg announced that it was cutting another 250 employees from its U.S. workforce, and by February, it had closed 39 distribution centers and laid off its entire U.S. sales force.
The company’s contraction came after Kellogg decided to cut its advertising with Breitbart News at the end of 2016, thereby snubbing Breitbart’s 45,000,000 readers.
In November, Kellogg noted that the conservative readers at Breitbart News are not “aligned with our values as a company.”
While the decision by Kellogg to cease advertising made virtually no revenue impact on Breitbart.com., it did represent an escalation in the war by leftist companies like Target and Allstate against conservative customers whose values propelled Donald Trump into the White House.
After the cereal maker turned its back on conservative customers, Breitbart News launched its #DumpKelloggs petition, which has been signed by more than 450,000 people.
Finally, according to advertising industry watchdog, Adweek, Kellogg’s decision to pull advertising from Breitbart and the ensuing controversy over the move inflicted massive, long-term damage to the cereal company’s brand online.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.