General Mills has overhauled its creative agency roster, hiring Goodby Silverstein & Partners, The Martin Agency and Mother after a review that kicked off in March.

General Mills did not disclose which brands each of the three new agencies would work on, saying those decisions would be made in the coming weeks. It also did not detail how the selections will affect incumbents. The food marketer had been using a variety of agencies across its many brands, including Anomaly and Pereira O’Dell. Consultancy R3 handled the review and incumbents were allowed to pitch. 

“We’re looking for people who can help us with that creative firepower to bring ideas and emotions and feelings and resonance to our brands that are going to make our brands more valuable,” said Doug Martin, chief marketing officer for General Mills. “We’re looking for people to help lean in with us—maybe take some creative risks, maybe take some swings. But do some things that are going to be memorable and meaningful for consumers.”

Before this year, General Mills’ last creative review was in 2019. In 2023, it appointed Interpublic Group of Cos.’ UM as its global media agency of record.

The latest changes come as more brands are expanding their agency rosters to manage a growing list of needs, often working with shops across multiple holding companies. For instance, General Motors in June hired Mother, Preacher, Anomaly and 72andSunny; Kellanova’s roster now includes FCB, MullenLowe, Tombras and The Martin Agency.

General Mills’ new roster includes Interpublic Group of Cos. (Martin), Omnicom Group (Goodby) as well as an independent (Mother).

Goodby’s win gets it on the roster of another food giant—it already works with PepsiCo (including Doritos) and with Kraft Heinz’s Lunchables.

‘We have to be aware of challenges’

The General Mills roster overhaul comes as the company looks to breathe new life into some of its brands to win back more consumers who have tightened their grocery budgets or started buying more private-label brands. The company’s net sales fell 1% to $4.8 billion in its fiscal first quarter, ended on Aug. 25. For comparison, Kraft Heinz’s recent second-quarter net sales fell 3.6% to $6.4 billion.

“We are not looking for agency partners to just say yes and follow the brief to the letter,” said Melissa Wildermuth, global creative director for General Mills. “We want partners who understand our brands and the audience we serve and say, ‘That feels off. Have you thought about this?’”

“The household with kids looks different today than it did 10 years ago,” Martin said. “We have to be relevant to and focus on the multicultural household. We have to be aware of challenges coming from all directions—private label is a value-based competitor that has a lot of appeal right now, and there are a lot of smaller niche brands that may be more premium. That’s why it’s more important than ever to be really clear on what our brands mean and what they deliver.”

Martin pointed to Cheerios and Pillsbury as examples of brands that may see renewed creative pushes. Cheerios is seen at General Mills as a lifelong brand, starting with toddlers testing fine motor skills to older folks looking after their heart health. The Pillsbury Doughboy turns 60 next year.

“I think there’s a lot of ways that we can continue to leverage him more, because he's such a distinctive brand asset,” he said.

General Mills recently announced plans to sell its North American yogurt business, including the Yoplait and Go-Gurt brands, to French dairy companies Lactalis and Sodiaal next year. The North American yogurt business brought in about $1.5 billion in net sales for General Mills in fiscal 2024, which ended on May 26.

General Mills spent $824 million on worldwide advertising and media in fiscal 2024, according to its annual regulatory filing. In 2023, the food giant spent $622 million in measured media in the U.S., up from $500.4 million the year prior, according to Vivvix, including paid social data from Pathmatics.

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CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story described one agency as an incumbent that has not worked for General Mills in five years, according to the agency