International: Marketing Helps General Mills Achieve Stellar Quarter
CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- General Mills cited product innovation and increased consumer-marketing spending for third-quarter earnings that beat analyst expectations. The company's earnings shot up 61% for the period ended Feb. 24 despite higher ingredient costs and a slowing economy.

CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- General Mills cited product innovation and increased consumer-marketing spending for third-quarter earnings that beat analyst expectations. The company's earnings shot up 61% for the period ended Feb. 24 despite higher ingredient costs and a slowing economy.
"Our product innovation and consumer marketing investments are driving strong growth on the top line, and cost-savings efforts, together with pricing actions, are offsetting significantly higher [ingredient] costs and protecting our margins," CEO Kendall Powell said in a press release.
Marketing Payback
General Mills said it increased consumer marketing spending, including sampling, media and contests, by 13% during the time period, but did not specify an actual amount. The company projects a double-digit increase in spending for the 2008 fiscal year.
"Across our worldwide food businesses, we have been steadily increasing our brand-building investments and improving the effectiveness of our advertising," Mr. Powell said. "We now expect to increase our consumer marketing investments at a double-digit rate in 2008 to position us for continuing growth for next year."
This marks a stepped-up increase for the company, which said it bumped consumer marketing spending 5% in fiscal 2006, and 8% in fiscal 2007.
According to TNS Media Intelligence, General Mills' ad spending alone increased 13% in calendar 2007 to $572 million, from $508 million in 2006. The company's agencies are Publicis Groupe's Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, and Interpublic Group of Cos.' Campbell Mithun, Minneapolis.
When the going gets tough ...
General Mills is contributing to a new common wisdom in the package-foods category: increased spending in the face of higher ingredients costs. Kraft and Kellogg both vowed to increase advertising or marketing spending when the companies reported earnings in January. Both of those companies, however, reported losses at the time.
Analysts were highly complimentary of General Mills' performance, but remained concerned about how long they can pass on rising food costs to the consumer. To do so, increases in marketing spending are needed, some said.
"At a certain point, it's just not in a food company's best interests to pass through more earnings to the bottom line," Wachovia analyst Jonathan Feeney wrote in a report. "Strong volume growth is driven by innovations, which cost marketing dollars -- we expect General Mills will prime the pump with more dollars as their clearly ahead-of-plan businesses hum along."
Small-box retailing
General Mills' Mr. Powell also credited the company's "right size, right price" initiative for helping Big G hold its own in cereals. Last year General Mills shrunk the size of its cereal boxes to avoid commensurate price increases. As a result, Mr. Powell said the company's U.S. cereal sales are up by box, but down slightly by tonnage.
The company's yellow box Cheerios is the leader in U.S. ready-to-eat cereal sales. With line extensions such as Honey Nut Cheerios taken into consideration, the brand accounts for 12% of U.S. cereal sales.
Mr. Powell also dismissed concerns about consumers trading down to private-label cereals, saying that private label share has been flat to decreasing slightly in recent months. He added that private-label has been forced to increase prices more on a percentage basis. That's led to a smaller gap between branded and private-label pricing.
"We're not seeing trade-down in our categories," he said. "[Private labels] need to take more pricing to cover cost increases, so we're seeing a little of the narrowing of the price gap."
Source: AdAge.com
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E4M Our strategy is to target younger audiences through Sports: Rajiv Dubey, Dabur
The Head of Media at Dabur India spoke exclusively to exchange4media on the World Cup, associating with Indian Idol, the company’s digital spending and much more
With quirky campaigns, memes and moment marketing, timed with the ongoing World Cup and particularly the India-Pakistan matches, Dabur India has got considerable consumer attention for its popular brands – Red Paste, Cool King Hair Oil, Chyawanprash, Dabur Vita and the recently launched Bae Fresh Gel toothpaste.
The 140-year-old company is going big on key sporting events, World Television Premiere (WTP) movies and reality shows. It is now gearing up to become the title sponsor of popular talent show ‘Indian Idol’ on Sony TV for the first time, shared Rajiv Dubey, who leads the media strategy at Dabur.
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Swapan Seth's new book 'COOL' is out
The book is a reflection of the author's 'eclectic taste across categories'
Advertising professional and art collector Swapan Seth has announced the launch of his new book COOL. The book is described as "a ready reckoner to the hip and the happening, of the known and the very unknown."
The book is a reflection of the author's "eclectic taste across categories: from boltholes to exotic hideaways."
COOL has been published by Simon & Schuster India and is available on Amazon.
Seth is an ad veteran with a long and illustrious career in the industry. He became the youngest-ever Creative Director at Clarion at age 24. He was VP at 26 at Trikaya Grey. Two years later, he started his agency Equus.
He writes for publications such as The Economic Times, Hindustan Times and India Today. This is his second book and he has previously published THIS IS ALL I HAVE TO SAY.
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Disney Star signs 9 sponsors for Asia Cup PAK
Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up come on board
e4m Staff Disney Star has signed nine broadcast and digital streaming sponsors for the upcoming Asia Cup.
Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up have come on board for the upcoming tournament.
As reported earlier by exchange4media, Disney Star has sought Rs 26 crore for the co-presenting sponsorship on TV and Rs 30 crore for Disney+ Hotstar.
According to industry sources, the associate sponsorship on Star Sports has been priced at Rs 19.66 crore, whereas for the ‘powered by’ sponsorship on Disney+ Hotstar, the broadcaster is seeking Rs 18 crore.
As per the information available with exchange4media, Disney+ Hotstar has three sponsorship tiers-- co-presenting (Rs 30 crore), powered by (Rs 18 crore) and associate sponsorship (Rs 12 crore). The broadcaster is offering an estimated reach of 120-140 million for co-presenting sponsors, 90-100 million for powered by and 60-70 million for associate sponsorship.
A spot buy for 10 seconds has been priced at Rs 25 lakh for the India vs Pakistan matches, while for the non-India matches, the ad rate for 10 second is Rs 2.3 lakh. The India matches plus the final for ODIs has been priced at Rs 17 lakh per 10 seconds.
Asia Cup is scheduled to be held from 30 August, 2023, to September 17, 2023.
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Sorted 360 wins creative & social media mandate of Reliance Mall
The agency will manage offline and online campaigns for Reliance Mall
Sorted 360, an integrated creative and social media agency, has won the mandate to providing brand solutions for Reliance Malls across India.
“Sorted 360 is set to enhance Reliance Malls' market presence with their unparalleled creative prowess and strategic thinking,” read a press release.
“Sorted 360's commitment to pushing the boundaries of creative communication aligns perfectly with Reliance Malls' ethos. With a pan-India presence spanning across 19 cities and growing, Reliance Malls has consistently captivated customers by offering an array of Reliance brands and third-party fashion & lifestyle brands. The mall has established an unparalleled connection with its patrons through superior quality, a remarkable value proposition, and an unmatched shopping experience,” it read further.
"We are thrilled to welcome Sorted 360 as our trusted partner in advancing our brand presence across the nation," said the Head of Marketing at Relaice Malls. "Their proven expertise in retail, shopping center management, and innovative creative strategies make them the perfect fit for our vision."
"Partnering with Reliance Malls is a testament to our commitment to shaping extraordinary brand experiences," remarked Prerana Anatharam, Co-founder of Sorted 360. "We are excited to leverage our strategic and creative acumen to further elevate Reliance Malls as the epitome of convenience, choice, and excellence."
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KlugKlug onboards Hemang Mehta as Country Manager for Indias
Mehta was most recently Head of Agency Relationships at Network 18 Media & Investments
KlugKlug has appointed Hemang Mehta as its Country Manager for India.
Mehta will play a pivotal role in driving KlugKlug's growth and expansion within the Indian market and be responsible for Sales & GTM Strategy
Prior to that, he has also represented organisations like Exponential (now VDX.tv), India Today Digital and Rediff.com. His expertise spans various domains including digital media sales, mobile marketing, media planning, and buying, social media marketing, and more.
Hemang Mehta expressed his enthusiasm about joining KlugKlug, saying, "I am thrilled to be a part of KlugKlug, a forward-thinking platform that is reshaping the influencer marketing landscape. As much as I look forward to collaborating with the exuberant team at KlugKlug, I am super excited to interact with the brands to deliver powerful data-backed Influencer solutions that will guarantee business outcomes."
Commenting on the appointment, Kalyan Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO of KlugKlug, stated, "We are excited to welcome Hemang Mehta to our team as the Country Manager for India. His extensive experience in digital media sales and marketing will be instrumental in driving our efforts to provide influencer marketing solutions to our clients. We believe Hemang's leadership will be key in scaling our operations and expanding our reach within the Indian market."
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