Campaign Imminent: General Mills names new AOR (Score 50)

Sales Lead: Ingredient is cooking up a new recipe for General Mills (GM)'s strategy as its new content marketing AOR.

• Ingredient will now lead GM's integrated agency teams as quarterback.
• As AOR, the agency's remit has expanded to include a more holistic content strategy, which includes duties such as but not limited to channel planning, site content, editorial production, email marketing and deployment, and martech ingredients.
• This move expands Ingredient's relationship with GM.
  • The agency has handled digital marketing strategies for the company's Box Tops for Education program in the past and has also worked with individual brands such as Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Old El Paso, Annie's Homegrown, and Lucky Charms.
• Now, Ingredient's work will have a larger-than-ever scope since its size has doubled in recent years.
• The company will likely:
  • Shift strategy
  • Continue increasing national TV spend
  • Return to higher digital spend
  • Conclude its ongoing media review (more below)
  • Conduct additional agency reviews
• Target demographic: 
  • Millennials and Gen-X

Additional spending insights:

• Broadcast insights (TV ad creative spend); digital and social insights (digital ad spend, placement, and impressions)
  • View recent digital and national TV spend for top brands here.  
• Additional channel insights  
  • The company utilizes Google Ads along with radio, print (magazines), digital, OOH, local broadcast, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and online video (via Youtube IOS, Youtube Android, and Youtube.com) ads.
  • GM sponsors podcasts such as The Daily, The Joe Rogan Experience, The Ben Shapiro Show, The Bobby Bones Show, and Stories from NPR.

Additional agency insights:

• Opportunity:
  • As I briefly mentioned, a media hire is imminent since GM kicked off a global media review in March 2023 after working with WPP's Mindshare for years.
• Current agency roster:
  • Ingredient: Content marketing AOR (2023); digital agency partner (~2000)
  • Mindshare: Media AOR
  • In-House: Media
  • Golin: PR AOR
  • Erich & Kallman: Creative AOR
  • VMLY&R Commerce: Creative AOR
  • Havas Chicago: Digital and social AOR

Insight Sources: Broadcast insights estimated by iSpot; digital spend insights estimated by Pathmatics; additional channel insights estimated by Vivvix; podcast insights by Podchaser.