General Mills has added more agencies to its roster, this time tapping Fallon and 72andSunny -- a move that comes two months after the marketer named Wieden & Kennedy the lead agency on Yoplait.
Publicis Groupe's Fallon will take on creative duties for Old El Paso, while MDC's 72andSunny will handle the Totino's pizza brand. Totino's did not previously have a lead agency, instead relying on a stable of shops for project work. Old El Paso was previously handled by Bromley.
General Mills' move to add more agencies comes after Ann Simonds took the chief marketing officer role at General Mills earlier this year, replacing Mark Addicks, who retired after a 26-year tenure at the packaged-food giant. Also playing a key role in agency decisions is Michael Fanuele, a former chief strategy officer for Fallon who joined General Mills late last year in the newly created position of chief creative officer.
"America loves Old El Paso, and Fallon will help us stoke that passion," said Mr. Fanuele. "They know how to cultivate powerful relationships between people and brands. We're thrilled to be working with them."
He also said that Totino's is "one of our fastest-growing businesses," and that 72andSunny's "experience building brands with pop-culture power is a perfect fit for Totino's." He declined to elaborate on what the impetus is to add more creative agencies to the company's roster.
General Mills' main creative agencies are Interpublic's McCann Erickson and Publicis Groupe's Saatchi & Saatchi, and Mr. Fanuele said that no additional changes to their assignments were pending, nor were there any immediate plans to add any more creative shops to the roster. Saatchi works on brands like Cheerios, Progresso, Green Giant and Fiber One. McCann Erickson in New York also has a large piece of business at General Mills including the Pillsbury franchise, as well as Nature Valley, among others.
In 2014, the company spent close to $830 million on U.S. measured media, down from $851 million in 2013. The marketer spent about $18 million on Old El Paso in 2014 and $28 million on Totino's. Its largest brand by spending is Yoplait by a long shot, followed by Cheerios and then Pillsbury