TakeAway: To help consumers sort through myriad of cereal options, General Mills is using social media as part of a new campaign to promote its cereals’ whole grain content.
The company expects this presence to give consumers a shortcut or identifier to direct them to whole grain cereals.
The company will include special banners at the ends of aisles, more displays, including on pallets and in Spanish, colorful balloons and information at the checkout, as well as pointing out the check marks for whole grain content from the Whole Grains Council, an industry group that encourages eating whole grains.
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Excerpted from NYTimes, “And Down This Aisle, Many Whole Grain Options” By Elizabeth Olson, February 2, 2011
General Mills began adding whole grains to its cereal in 2005, after federal dietary guidelines recommended daily food intake include whole grains. Its products, which include Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Fiber One and Total, each contain at least eight grams of whole grains per serving.
General Mills competes with Kellogg in the $6.5 billion cereal industry. It has slightly less than the one-third of Kellogg’s market share.
General Mills is moving to close the gap by spending 20 percent more on its whole grains advertising in 2011. The company spent nearly $245 million on all cereal marketing in the first nine months of last year.
The company advertises the whole grain content of its Big G cereal lineup, including Cheerios and Wheaties, separately from its advertising for individual cereal varieties.
For years, cereal makers have been battling with bread and pasta makers over which product has the higher whole grain content.
To help the baffled consumer, the General Mills campaign was reaching out to bloggers, including the MyBlogSpark network of people who review new products and other “influencers” — people who set a buying example for others. Consumers can sign up with the company’s Web site, generalmills.com, to receive and review products and host get-togethers to try new items with friends.
The whole-grains campaign is planning to give away one million servings of its whole grain cereals to needy families to spur consumption, although the company has not yet announced specifics of the giveaway. The campaign also created a series of pro-whole grain videos with a company nutritionist and Dr. Travis Stork, a host of “The Doctors” daytime talk show.
Edit by AMW
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The Homa Files 
February 14, 2011 at 10:27 am |
I remember an issue with GM and tainted grain from China. When queried, GM would not say where their grain came from. I wonder what the impact of a “whole grain grown in the USA” campaign would be.