Inside General Mills’ partnerships team and how it is getting brands into pop culture

Rappers, superheroes, celebrity chefs, esports stars, fashion designers and sports trendsetters such as Nike aren’t usually the first things associated with General Mills. But the 95-year-old packaged foods giant is finding new ways to collaborate with culturally hot people and brands in a move to find new audiences for Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Yoplait and dozens of its other household food brands. The collaborations—which have included everything from pairing FaZe Clan with Totinos and Betty Crocker with “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”—are part of an emerging brand partnerships approach at the Minnesota-based company that involves establishing a dedicated team to pursue deals across entertainment, sports, fashion and more industries. See our 2023 Marketers of the Year here While plenty of other marketers have put more emphasis on brand partnerships in recent years, it has become especially important for General Mills as it seeks to gain attention for older brands while combating economic forces such as inflation. The initiative is led by Global Creative Director Melissa Wildermuth, a longtime General Mills employee who began taking an aggressive approach to partnerships after being promoted into the role in July 2021. She leads a team of 12 whose goal is to identify trends and find brands outside the company that share similar values with General Mills brands to help both sides win, with both parties sharing data to help with consumer targeting. “I think the team she created was a game changer for brand-building,” said Brad Hiranaga, chief brand officer at apparel brand Cotopaxi who was the chief marketing officer at General Mills for five years until 2021. “She pioneered the partnerships team at General Mills. She was onto that idea a decade ago—how do we find partners that have similar values? Then can we align with them and reach new audiences?” Indeed, Wildermuth is the first General Mills executive to lead the company’s partnerships by using a cohesive, marketing-led approach. Previously, tasks around finding and executing partnerships were handled by individual brands. Partnerships were seen as pure revenue drivers. But Wildermuth changed that—now the goal is finding a shared purpose with external partners to assist with longer-term brand building. Short-term revenue increases are a desired outcome, but not the only goal. “We can really provide added value to our brands and our partners if we are organized culturally,” Wildermuth said. “We have someone responsible for fashion, music, food, sports, gaming. They can build up their expertise in that cultural space and then network and form relationships, and bring ideas back to the brand teams. Complementing the brand teams’ knowledge with something more external facing has proven to be a great winning formula for us that helps us become more credible with our partners because we have people that are deep experts in their spaces.” The power of partnerships One factor making brand partnerships more important for companies of all kinds—not just General Mills—is the fact that traditional ad spending does not go as far as it once did, as media grows more fragmented and ad-skipping more prevalent. With a buzzy collaboration, brands can generate earned media attention. Consider Mattel, for instance, which worked with 165 partners on brand collaborations and deals to help tap into nostalgia around the “Barbie” movie, including working with Gap on an apparel collection and Impala on a pair of roller skates. McDonald’s has leaned into programs such as creating adult Happy Meals and linking them to popular streetwear brands, such as last year’s Cactus Plant Flea Market collab, which drew countless headlines and gave younger consumers a new reason to be interested in the chain’s usual menu items of burgers and fries. Read more: How Mattel’s ‘Barbie’ playbook will push it forward “[General Mills’] setup is not necessarily unique, but I do think it is a more modern way of organizing a marketing department,” said Brad Jakeman, former president of PepsiCo’s global beverage group, who was known to strike deals with entertainment brands. “We live in a world where it’s never been easier to reach a consumer, but it's also never been harder to connect with them. When you partner with the right brands, that drives a level of connection and affinity that great brand partnerships are good at. We used to have a quest for eyeballs, but now it’s a quest for attention.” “General Mills [has] these heritage American brands, and the challenge they face is how to reinvent a brand without losing its soul,” said Mona Munayyer Gonzalez, chief growth officer at Pereira O’Dell, which works with General Mills brands including Pillsbury, Betty Crocker and Chex. “But what I have seen under Melissa is that her team is so sharp on what each brand’s soul is and how the consumer sees them. They can protect it but show up in a new way.” Finding new ways to market old brands has become a necessity for packaged food giants, which have increasingly contended with startup offerings across a host of categories. And General Mills must also compete with peers such as Kraft Heinz, which has poured millions of dollars into facelifts from brands ranging from Jell-O to Velveeta. Analysts will get their next look at General Mills’ progress on Dec. 20, when it reports fiscal second-quarter results. The company’s net sales rose 4% to $4.9 billion in its first quarter, which ended in August. (By comparison, Kraft Heinz’s sales rose 1%, to nearly $6.6 billion, in its third quarter ended in September.) General Mills has had several hit collaborations of late. Last year, the company’s Reese’s Puffs cereal collaborated with fashion designer Yoon Ahn and her Ambush brand in a partnership that included limited-edition boxes of the cereal, launching a virtual metaverse experience dubbed “Breakfastverse” and shiny cereal bowls that doubled as a purse. The partnership attracted the attention of Vogue, which covered the collab in an article headlined, “Reese’s Puffs x Ambush Is a Collaboration Andy Warhol Could Cosign.” Sieh dir diesen Beitrag auf Instagram an Ein Beitrag geteilt von REESE'S PUFFS CEREAL (@reesespuffs) In 2020, Reese’s Puffs put rapper Lil Yachty on limited-edition boxes and followed up the next year with remote-controlled speed boats that could hold a bowl of cereal for super-fans. The artist Kaws appeared on a Reese’s Puffs box in 2021, with limited-edition boxes that sold out in under five minutes and led to 10% growth in brand sales from September to December that year, according to General Mills. In 2021, the company tapped FaZe Clan to help promote Totino’s Pizza Rolls via a heavily branded series where members of FaZe hung out with Lil Yachty (also a member of FaZe) eating, what else, Totino’s. In 2022, FaZe Clan helped launch Totino’s buffalo chicken flavor, and then an orange chicken flavor in August 2023. View this post on Instagram A post shared by FaZe Shop (@fazeshop) In March, General Mills also did a tie-up between Dunkaroos and design brand Katty Customs for exclusive sneakers selling on the shopping marketplace NTWRK. That same month, General Mills started selling ready-to-bake cookie dough as part of a partnership with Milk Bar and chef Christina Tosi. For those wondering, yes it came with the DunkaroosOnly 100 pairs in the world!Thanks to @NTWRKLIVE pic.twitter.com/30B8cIEFrM— Capone Collects (@CaponeCollects) April 18, 2023 The company’s newest partnership pairs Cinnamon Toast Crunch with Braille Skateboarding, a brand founded by pro skateboarder Aaron Kyro, who wanted to show that anyone can learn to skate. Under the deal, Braille Skateboarding made 100 custom skateboards capable of holding a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and 15 shaped like a spoon. A campaign that went live in November includes videos of Kyro and his team using the box-holding boards that will be distributed on Instagram and Braille’s YouTube channels. General Mills will also send the boards to five skateboarding influencers. The goal is to capture the attention from Braille Skateboarding’s 5.8 million YouTube subscribers while gaining notice from Cinnamon Toast Crunch’s target audience of teenagers. View this post on Instagram A post shared by BRAILLE SKATEBOARDING (@brailleskate) “We were brainstorming ideas around wheels—cars, motocross, skateboarding,” said Cassie Pezza, who leads sports, gaming, fitness, and wellness partnerships for General Mills, noting the company worked with Anomaly to come up with the idea. “And we landed on skateboarding for the culture and vibe behind it, and resonating with teens, which is the target Cinnamon Toast Crunch audience.” Pezza’s team then had to find a partner in the skateboard community that would mesh with the “fun absurdity” associated with Cinnamon Toast Crunch—think of the animated pieces of the cereal that eat each other in the commercials—while encouraging spending time with friends. Braille Skateboarding stood out because it is known for turning objects into skateboards—Legos, glass, an iPad— and making family-friendly content around it. Pezza reached out via Braille’s “contact us” page in July, saying that they wanted to talk about a potential Cinnamon Toast Crunch project. After Kylie Dacasin, VP of administration and partnerships at Braille, quickly responded, Pezza sent over mock-ups of what the board would look like, which caught the Braille team’s attention. “I specifically liked that they came to us with the idea in picture form,” Dacasin said. “They put the thought into beforehand so we knew what we were saying yes to. Plus in my own research, I had not seen anything like it.” Meet the team Such diligence is an example of how having a team dedicated to finding and executing partnerships can pay off. Wildermuth, who reports to Chief Brand Officer Doug Martin, has structured the partnerships team so that it has experts in certain verticals, including sports, music, fashion and entertainment, rather than brand experts. This enables the company to dig deep into the different trends, brands and people who could partner with General Mills brands. “We talk about driving our brands into culture and culture into our brands, so we have to move at the speed of culture,” Wildermuth said. “That means being much more idea-led versus brand-led. And that is the key differentiator in getting to something that really works, not only for the brand and the partner, but ultimately the consumer we serve. Because they're the ones that are going to be actually experiencing the idea.” Moving fast is in Wildermuth’s DNA. Her pre-General Mills career included a stint as weekend anchor for the local TV news station in Alexandria, Minnesota, where she wrote the newscast, filmed it and ran the teleprompter while contending with harsh winters. “I have an incredibly accidental career,” she said. “My dream was to be Katie Couric.” But she has satisfied her thirst for variety at General Mills, where she started at the bottom—she was hired for an entry-level role in the marketing department in 1997, first gaining notice after calling the company’s switchboard and asking for someone to review her resume. As global creative director, she carefully assembled her partnerships team, which now includes Katie Wong, General Mills’ head of ideas and partnerships; Lisa Balzo, head of entertainment partnerships and licensing; the aforementioned Pezza; and Kyla Rabb, associate manager for entertainment, music, and fashion partnerships. By several accounts, Wildermuth has a knack for creating a collaborative environment, treating idea generation as a team sport. “General Mills can be really formal, with the traditional big pitch, the perfect slideshow presentation,” said Melissa Wagner, director brand experience strategy at General Mills. “But she can create safety and comfort for people more like a workshop. She makes sure the right people are in the room, not by title, but by chemistry, and that creates safety and then creativity in the room.” Rabb joined the partnerships team a little over a year ago after she saw a Cheerios partnership with the hot fashion brand Kith. The two brands released a clothing line, and took over a Brooklyn bodega on National Cereal Day, completely stocking it with limited-edition boxes of regular and Honey Nut Cheerios, along with a few pieces from the collection. Rabb was working on the sales side of General Mills, but was also passionate about music and fashion, and was looking for a way to bring that into her work. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kith Treats (@kithtreats) “I was like whoa, what are we doing here? And what team is responsible for this?” she said. Since joining the team, Rabb has worked on projects including a Mott’s fruit snacks literacy program in October. “We know that the Mott’s consumer is a Hispanic mom who wants to set her kids up for success but understands their culture, so how do we add value there?” Rabb said. The team used internal brand data and brainstorming to hone in on the idea of a free book, and realized it needed a publishing partner. “It almost felt like I was writing a research paper,” said Rabb. She started with the top 10 publishers in the space, then narrowed down the list, and began surfing through their websites. “Of course, I can ask the publishers to send me all the things they’re doing with multicultural authors, but it was important that they had this information readily available, digestible and clear on their website for the average consumer.” Penguin Random House stood out, having easily accessible links to Spanish-language books. The partnership became the Snacks and Stories book redemption program. Through May 2024, customers who purchase one box of Mott’s Fruit Flavored Snacks and redeem their receipt can receive one of 16 children’s books, many of which are from Hispanic authors and illustrators. Mott’s has given away over 4,000 books, according to General Mills. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Motts (@motts) The program is an example of how the partnerships team blends customer data and creativity to give brands a boost. Indeed, a detailed understanding of the core customer for each brand is seen as a “superpower,” according to Balzo. Much of that comes from the company’s consumer insights team or data from individual brand teams and helps in pitching potential partners. But potential partners have also come to General Mills with their own customer data, or an insight that showed they are also cereal-eaters, or mac and cheese fans, or holiday bakers. Balzo says another superpower is the team’s diversity. “We have people spread throughout the country, and have people with diverse passion points and diverse experiences, both professionally and personally,” she said. “We're not just people sitting in Minnesota.” For instance, some members live in New York and North Carolina. Partnerships have also helped General Mills show up authentically on new platforms and spaces. In 2018, the brand partnered with Nike and Kyrie Irving for three cereal-inspired shoes that launched in Nike’s app, for instance. Posters featuring the Kaws collaboration are part of his current exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario. View this post on Instagram A post shared by @kaws A key plank of the partnership approach is to speak to general consumers, while also nodding to super fans of the brands. Wildermuth points to the Reese’s Puffs-Lil Yachty deal. The rapper wanted to create small, remote-controlled yachts with a small bowl for cereal for a select group of super fans as part of the experience—General Mills made it happen. Ahn created chrome cereal bowl purses as part of her collaboration. Shoutout to @reesespuffs for helping me bring this yacht to life.Get yours on Friday at https://t.co/pbcF9dEL4i. Sign up to get notified when it drops. pic.twitter.com/cRidysrzZT— CONCRETE BOY BOAT^ (@lilyachty) April 7, 2021 The partnerships team is constantly on the lookout for ideas. They are often quick, easy lifts that capitalize on what’s happening in pop culture. In the summer of 2020, General Mills partnered with Disney to tap into the Baby Yoda craze from “The Mandalorian.” The cereal giant rolled out a cereal of sweetened corn puff pieces and green marshmallows shaped like Baby Yoda’s head, digging up the specifications for the marshmallows from the brand’s 2002 Star Wars cereal. General Mills partnered with Disney again in 2021 to release limited-edition, online-only boxes of Loki Charms as a way to celebrate the launch of the “Loki” series debut on Disney+. General Mills brought back the collaboration this year for Season 2. This time, the boxes, sold online via Walmart, had an optical illusion—depending on how they tipped the box, consumers either saw Lucky the Leprechaun or Loki. “When I first joined the team, everything was more long-term, even our inbound licensing deals back then were like three years long,” said Balzo. “Now a year is like the longest. And I think that also speaks to what consumers are looking for. They get bored quickly. So we have to keep things fresh and keep trying new things and aligning ourselves with the things that they care about in the moment that they care about, in order to get them to pay attention to our brands.” Balzo said that typically, the team will take a brand business challenge, get into a room (virtual or in-person) and start throwing out ideas. “We really use the lens of, ‘Okay, does this fit the brief? Does it feel like a talkable idea? Does it feel like it has legs?’ It might seem like this kind of really great idea, but if we can't build on it, then we know that it isn't necessarily going to come to life in the way that we need it to.” “If the data supports it, it's fair game [for a partnership],” said Balzo. She points to a partnership between Amazon Prime’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and Betty Crocker in April to celebrate the show’s last season, and it involved creating a landing page for recipes from the 1960s. “Betty Crocker is a brand that historically hasn’t done a ton within the pop culture realm. Nothing's really untouchable, it's just uncovering what the best idea for them and their consumer is. It might not even be their current core consumer right now, but it might be a growth audience that we're looking to reach.” Wildermuth says General Mills is not afraid to keep shopping for partners when values don’t align. The team was once contacted by a media company that was not aligned with the LGBTQ+ community, and General Mills declined. “Sometimes it’s not a good first date,” she said. “We can tell when the value system and the purpose of why we’re possibly doing this is off. And we’ll walk away.” (General Mills declined to identify the company.) But there was one deal that General Mills let slip away. Wildermuth regrets not finding a way to capitalize on the “Barbie” movie. “I don’t think we sold it enough internally, that’s on me,” she said. “There are things that come up that you know will be culturally hot. And then if you can't get it through, sometimes you give up too soon.”

Inside General Mills’ partnerships team and how it is getting brands into pop culture

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