General Mills Wants Families to Eat More Cereal

10/1/2013

One of every eight boxes of cereals sold in the U.S. is a variety of Cheerios, according to General Mills. And Honey Nut Cheerios is the top-selling U.S. brand.

The cereal category, however, remains challenging. It is still popular and profitable, a $10 billion category. The average U.S. household buys one cereal box every other week, and cereal makes up 32% of breakfasts consumed at home. “We see that the families, the mainstream families who are after taste and branded value and fun in the breakfast occasion are strongest [cereal] consumers right now,” says General Mills’ James Murphy.

As such, General Mills is launching several new initiatives to appeal to millennial families. General Mills is supporting Honey Nut Cheerios with increased levels of advertising, including a new effort with rapper Nelly called “Must Be the Honey,” a play on his popular hit, “Must Be the Money.” The campaign generated more than 10,000 mentions on social media during its first week.

A Send Cheer to Teachers promotion for traditional Cheerios features a detachable thank-you postcard to be sent to a favorite teacher.

General Mills reintroduced its iconic Monster cereals, including for the first time in 20 years, Yummy Mummy and Frute Brute. “This new era of marketing you can try a lot of ideas for very little money and really experiment with them and we’re doing that quite effectively now,” says General Mills’ Kendall Powell. “We’re finding-we’re unlocking growth on some of these brands we haven’t marketed for a while.”

Hispanic families are another key priority, though specific outreach tactics are still being formulated. “In fact, Hispanics, as I said consume more cereal than anybody and that’s a growth driver for us in the future,” says Murphy.

SOURCE: General Mills, Kendall Power, One General Mills Blvd., Minneapolis, MN 55426; 763-764-7600; kendall.power@genmills.com; www.generalmills.com. Also, James Murphy, james.murphy@genmills.com.

© 2013 Business Valuation Resources, LLC (BVR). May not be reproduced without written consent of publisher.

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