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General Mills CMO On Digital Initiatives

  • USA Today, Thursday, February 2, 2012 9:56 AM

Mark Addicks, CMO for General Mills, wants to reinvent food packaging, especially cereal, by using digital technology. He's working on concepts that he hopes will be out by the summer and won't reveal much, citing General Mills' rivalry with other food companies, most notably Kellogg.

Addicks met recently with Google, Facebook, Apple and other Silicon Valley companies in part to update the marketing concept of offering a surprise inside the cereal box. Instead, kids could point a smartphone at QR codes on the box and "see visual surprises." He's already got apps for Betty Crocker and Yoplait Yogurt and is exploring apps for cereal brands. "You point to a logo and things start to appear," he says. "Maybe some functional content will pop up on a cake-mix box, or you might see entertainment and games coming from a cereal box. What I'm hoping for is pure entertainment."

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