General Mills launches global creative review

General Mills has launched a global creative agency review across its portfolio of 100 brands, which include Annie’s, Cheerios and Fiber One. The review will be handled by consultancy R3, which declined comment. See all of Ad Age’s 2024 Agency A-List winners here Last October, General Mills named a new global media agency of record, Interpublic Group of Cos.’ UM, which took that account from WPP’s Mindshare, following a review led by Mediasense. “As we continue to build iconic brands, we are always looking at our internal and partner capabilities,” a General Mills spokesperson said in a statement. “We are in the early stages to kick off a review of our creative capabilities, including our project-based agency roster.” The company currently works with different agencies on different brands. For example, Stagwell-owned Anomaly works on creative for brands including Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Reese’s Puffs and Honey Nut Cheerios, while Pereira O’Dell has done work for Annie’s. Specialty food marketing shop Ingredient is the company’s content marketing agency of record. Independent shop Erich and Kallman is also on the roster. It’s unclear if General Mills is looking to consolidate its account with one agency, or which shops are pitching. General Mills spent $810 million on worldwide advertising and media in its fiscal year 2023, which ended in May, according to its annual regulatory filing. The Minneapolis-based food company spent $657 million on measured media in the U.S. in 2023, up from $507 million in 2022, according to Vivvix, including paid social data from Pathmatics. Analysts will get their next look at General Mills’ financials on March 20, when it reports fiscal third-quarter results. The company reported lower volume sales, which contributed to net sales falling 2% to $5.1 billion, in its second fiscal quarter ended in November. General Mills CEO Jeff Harmening cited “a continued challenging consumer landscape.” By comparison, cereal rival WK Kellogg Co.’s sales were down 3.7% to nearly $651 million in its fourth quarter. General Mills has recently been trying to find new, younger audiences for some of its household food brands. It’s done so with a new emerging brand partnerships approach that’s seen collaborations between FaZe Clan and Totinos and Betty Crocker and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” among others. The company also introduced last month a “Loaded” cereal lineup, with vanilla creme-filled versions of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Cocoa Puffs, among others, in its attempts to attract more Gen Z consumers. Contributing: Erika Wheless Ad Age Leading Women Luncheon Join us Aug. 7 in New York as we recognize this year’s honorees Buy your ticket today

General Mills launches global creative review

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