P&G, Walmart, Unilever, General Mills Are Major Marketers on a Mission†

From 'We Save You Money' to 'We Nourish Lives,' Giants Make Some Big Statements

Advertising Age, November 16, 2009 — If you haven't touched and improved more lives more completely lately, you probably wouldn't last long as a Procter & Gamble Co. marketer.

The touching-and-improving mantra flows off lips at P&G these days with the eerie ease that "consumer is boss" did nearly a decade ago. The catchphrase rotation has been the most obvious manifestation of the transition to CEO Bob McDonald. He and Global Brand-Building Officer Marc Pritchard frequently answer questions about everything from growth strategy to the role of a brand manager by citing that touching/improving theme.

General Mills, Target Play on Consumers' Nostalgia†

Retro Designs of Their Youth Appeal to Stressed Shoppers' Desire for Comfort

Advertising Age, March 3, 2009 — NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — If food can be comforting, how about packaging? With consumers embracing old-world classics such as casserole, some marketers are trying to get on the bandwagon by trotting out some old-school style. General Mills has given Target a month-long exclusive on retro box designs for some of its best-selling cereals, Cheerios, Honey Nut Cheerios, Lucky Charms, Cocoa Puffs and Trix.

Brand-Name Food Makers Woo Retailers With Displays†

Wall Street Journal, February 18, 2009 — Seeking to combat stiffer competition from cheaper store brands, big-name food manufacturers, including Kraft Foods Inc. and General Mills Inc., are joining forces with retailers to promote their brands alongside private-label goods

General Mills Thrives on Increased Marketing Spending†

Boosting TV Ads Hiked Cereal Sales, But Digital ROI Even Higher

Advertising Age, February 17, 2009 — General Mills, one of the package-food industry's top performers, laid out a number of recent marketing successes at the Consumer Analysts Group of New York conference this morning, and offered a preview of the rest of its fiscal year.

The company has staunchly supported consumer-marketing spending increases — 19% in the first half of fiscal 2009, which began in June — while competitors, including Kellogg and Kraft, have begun to scale back on the heady marketing outlays of 2008, instead preaching bundling and greater return on investment. General Mills estimates that its consumer-marketing spending will be up by "double digits" for the full fiscal year.

Mobile Marketers Target Receptive Hispanic Audience†

Continental Airlines, General Mills, Sears Work to Launch Latino-Centric Cellphone Campaigns

Advertising Age, January 26, 2009 — Hispanics, the country's largest and fastest-growing ethnic minority, are becoming a sought-after target for mobile advertisers as brands connect the dots between the group's receptiveness to advertising and its heavy mobile usage.

Google, Campbell Soup, J&J Tops in CSR

Marketing Charts, November 10, 2008 — Google, Campbell Soup, and Johnson & Johnson top the list of American companies that the US public sees as most socially responsible, according to the 2008 Corporate Social Responsibility Index (CSRI), from the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship and Reputation Institute.

Marketers Take a Softer Tack to Reach Uneasy Consumers†

Wall Street Journal, November 5, 2008 — The roller-coaster stock market and plunging housing prices have left many consumers afraid. In response, marketers are adopting a softer approach to peddling their wares, playing up comforting images in their ads and focusing on family and the warmth and safety of home.

Resolved to Keep on Marketing, Even in Tight-Fisted Times

New York Times, October 20, 2008 — Attendees of a big annual conference for marketers, held here last week, could have been forgiven for believing they had stumbled into a symposium for scholars of American history in the 1930s.

These are some of the words and phrases heard during the conference, the 98th annual meeting of the Association of National Advertisers: “financial crisis,” “scary,” “foreclosure,” “economic crisis,” “difficult times,” “the chaotic financial markets,” “devastating,” “under siege” and “unprecedented.”

Whether the members of the association — 400 companies that together spend an estimated $100 billion a year on advertising and other forms of marketing — are willing to stick to the spending plans they made “before the globe... continue reading

General Mills CMO Talks Growth, Sustainability†

Brandweek, October 17, 2008 — In today's tough economy, when food companies are battling escalating ingredient costs, heavily scrutinized marketing practices and fluctuating stocks, General Mills is driving growth with a business model that includes marketing at its core.

Mark Addicks, CMO and svp of General Mills, revealed what those strategies were during a speech this morning at the Association of National Advertisers' conference in Orlando, Fla. Addicks credited "leadership, scale and leverage" as the three factors fueling General Mill's brand portfolio in an unstable food business.

General Mills, Kraft Launch Word of Mouth Networks†

Brandweek, October 5, 2008 — Recognizing that a consumer's two cents are well worth their dollars, General Mills and Kraft have both launched new word-of-mouth networks.

For General Mills, it is "Pssst . . . ," an online network that gives members the scoop on the latest product news and offerings. The site, pssst.generalmills.com, currently has 100,000 members after a quiet launch last month.

Pssst uses an initial survey to help gauge product preferences. Once registered, users can voice their opinions via blog posts, share online coupon offers and recipes, and test new sample kits via the mail.

Kraft, meanwhile, kicked off Kraftfirsttaste.com last week, which lets consumers share the newest coupon and sampling offers, but also includes features such as a member spotlight, product... continue reading