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Evaluation of Marketing Strategies at General Mills

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Submitted By FroggyMatt
Words 2202
Pages 9
Main Title: Evaluation of Marketing Strategies at General Mills
Matthew Swygart
Indiana Wesleyan University
Instructor: Scot Squires
31 May 2015

To recognize when a product may be transitioning to another stage, “The competitive frame of reference defines which other brands a brand competes with and therefore which brands should be the focus of competitive analysis. The range of a company’s actual and potential competitors can be much broader than the obvious. For a brand to grow by entering new markets, a broader or maybe more aspirational competitive frame may be necessary to reflect possible future competitors. In fact, a firm is more likely to be hurt by emerging competitors or new technologies than by current competitors” (Kotler & Keller, 2012, p. 130).
Business and growth strategies for food categories that General Mills, Inc. partakes in are highly competitive; “their main competitors have substantial financials along with a large marketing budget and other resources. Not only are they competing with the competitors in the market but also having to divide their market share with generic products produced by grocery wholesalers. To grow in the market segment General Mills, Inc. plans to increase their media spending in order to have stronger brand recognition with their products. They also plan to grow through the multiple joint ventures they participate in. they have a 50 percent equity interest in CPW, which manufactures ready-to-eat cereal products in more than 130 countries. CPW sales were up 5% in the third quarter of the 2010 fiscal year. They also have 50 percent equity interest in Haagen-Dazs Japan, Inc. which distributes, markets, Haagen-Dazs ice cream products. The sales for Haagen-Dazs were down 8% on a constant-currency basis.
Along with join ventures and increased marketing spending to a specific target market, General Mills plans to

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