...have a bowl of General Mills Cheerios with Anderson Erickson 1% milk. As you munch on your cereal, you begin to look at the side of the box. What ingredients are in Cheerios? How are they processed and made? Who makes them? What does the factory look like? How are Cheerios packaged? What happens to the packaging when you throw the box away? How does General Mills do it all? How do they maintain customer loyalty? How do they manage their products? What is added to the product to satisfy the customer? General Mills’ brands are best known for quality and value added to their products. General Mills not only creates economic value, but it creates social and environmental value in the way it operates. General Mills is one of the largest companies in the world. Cheerios being one, General Mills manages 32 brands that offer various products. Yoplait offers many yogurt products focusing on the “goodness of taste” while supporting digestive health. Progresso offers a variety of soups and beans, as well as pasta dishes. Don’t forget about the Pillsbury crescent rolls at Thanksgiving or the chocolate chip cookies from Grandma’s house. These brands are all run by the company General Mills. As consumers, we sometimes question the entire process of how a product is made. Sometimes we wonder about the business that develops our products and what procedures they go through to create satisfaction for their customers. A ccording to their mission on the company website, General Mills strives to “nourish...
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...or service - Supporting a school or professional sports team - Acting as a goodwill ambassador for a cause Mascots can take a variety of forms, including inanimate objects, logos, people, and live animals. Most people are very familiar with costumed characters as mascots. Finding the right mascot can have a dramatic effect on your company's ability to sell to consumers. Your product or service is much harder to forget if it represented by a dramatic and memorable character. Mascots are used to represent businesses as well as schools and sports teams. Some great examples of companies using mascots are the characters used to promote breakfast cereals. Characters like the rabbit used to sell General Mills' Trix breakfast cereal seem to stick in the minds of children and adults alike. NEED FOR THE STUDY Need for the study is to know whether Mascot advertising effects the sales of the product OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 1. Mascot advertising can be a break or make situation for the product 2. Impact of mascot advertising on the consumers...
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...BTM101: Chapter 1 Assignment Carlos Hernandez April 2, 2014 Professor: Leon Guendoo Q1. Which five companies did you select and what is the key product or service of each? The five companies I selected from the top 100 list were Google, General Mills, Intuit, Boston Consulting Group, and Wegmans. Google, Inc. is one of the world’s largest software companies and is considered the king of all Internet search engines. Based in Mountain View, California, Google employs about 47,500 employees in 40 countries around the world. Its key product is its powerful search engine, Google. The company also provide Gmail and recently launched the Chrome Netbook which runs on the ChromeOS operating system. General Mills is one of the world’s largest food companies and leading brands. Well known for its wide variety of cereals (Cheerios, Trix, Lucky Charms), the company also markets many other well-known North American food brands, such as Bettyrocker, Yoplait, Colombo, Totino's, Jeno's, Green Giant, Old El Paso, and Häagen-Dazs. Intuit is software company that produces personal finance and tax software. It most popular products are Quicken and QuickBooks, both of which are easy to use small business accounting software. The company also produces TurboTax tax-filing software, and offers loans (Quicken Loans) and online payroll services. The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is a global management consulting firm with 81 offices in 45 countries. It is one of the Big Three management...
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...RED LOBSTER: MARKET RESEARCH REVEALS WHATS FRESH TODAY BACKGROUND 1968: Foundation: Red Lobster was founded in 1968 by entrepreneur Bill Darden and Charley Woossby. Originally billed as a “Harbor for seafood Lovers”, the original restaurant in Lakeland, Florida, was followed by several others throughout the Southest. 1970: General Mills acquired Red Lobster in 1970 as a five-unit restaurant company and rapidly expanded the company nationwide. As it reached more parts of the country, Red Lobster continually introduced guests to fresh dishes that quickly became favorites, with many guests getting their first taste of calamari, snow crab and Key lime pie here – not to mention the fact that it is where popcorn shrimp was invented. (after 1970, until 1980) In 1980, this year was one of the most important for the company, reaching and being in their stage of maturity, a stage in which all companies desire to be in there. In 1983, Red Lobster opened its first restaurant in Canada (Windsor, Ontario) Finishing, in 1995, after decades of success and growth, Red Lobster, together with Olive Garden and later Bahama Breeze, became part of Darden Restaurants, with Joe at the helm until 2005, when he turned the reins over to current CEO and Chairman Clarence Otis. Over the years, their passion for seafood and delicious experiences has kept Red Lobster evolving. Their menu has grown and changed with their guests’ tastes and their ability to bring the best of the sea to your table...
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...considered is cheese filled breadsticks served with Marinara sauce. The team will begin this marketing plan by giving an overview of the Olive Garden Restaurant, along with a detailed description of the new menu item being considered. They will also explain why marketing plays an important role in the restaurants success. A SWOTT analysis will be given to introduce all the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, and trends that should be considered prior to introducing this new appetizer to their menu. Finally, a marketing research approach will be decided upon and used to develop the marketing strategy and tactics for this new appetizer item. Olive Garden Restaurant General Mills originally created the Olive Garden restaurants in 1982. In June of 1995, General Mills moved the Olive Garden division to its newly developed Darden Restaurants, Inc. Olive Garden has quickly become the largest casual dining restaurant company in the world. Olive Garden uses Italy as its basis of inspiration and attempts to focus on hospitality and a pleasing dining experience. In 1999, Darden Restaurants, Inc. established its cooking school in the Tuscany region of Italy known as the Olive Garden’s Culinary Institute of Tuscany. Olive Garden creates all of its principles from two specific ideas: hold us to high standards and treat us with respect (Darden, 2011). Olive Garden believes there are five essentials to good, hospitable Italian cooking: olive oil,...
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...General Mills, Inc Summary General Mills is an American company that specializes in the production, packaging and distribution of food products. The company has managed to acquire a significant share of the market through mergers and acquisition. Currently, the company controls about 31 percent of the market. The industry is characterized by a moderate to low level of competition. The main competitors include Groupe Danone, Kellogg, and Kraft. Each company is able to retain its customer base since consumers tend to consume foods they are used to and hence strong brand loyalty. The company’s competitive advantage lies on its broad range of products and high level of innovation. High level of innovation has enabled the company to meet the changing customers’ need effectively while minimizing the operational costs. By providing a wide range of products, General Mills has managed to minimize risks. General Mills basically targets three groups, which include; baby boomers, Hispanics and the Minneapolis population. General Mills, Inc General Mills, Inc is an American company that is headquartered in Minneapolis in Minnesota. The history of the four industry traces back to the 1850’s and General Mills was founded in 1928 by James Ford Bell, who facilitated a merger between several milling companies in the region. The company is principally involved with the production and distribution of consumer foods. The company provides a wide range of products including meals...
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...Foundations Paper Olive Garden, Red Lobster, and Longhorn Steakhouse are places many have had the pleasure of visiting. These restaurants focus on providing exceptional customer service and creating a positive work environment for their employees. Along with the focus on exceptional service, these restaurants share another commonality; they are all a part of the Darden Restaurant Group. In 1938, a 19 year old by the name of Bill Darden opened his first restaurant. Over the next 70 years, Bill Darden would add eight different restaurants brands to his portfolio of companies, each one dedicated to providing exceptional customer service. In 1995, the Darden Restaurants Group Inc. would develop the Darden Foundation. A foundation committed to giving millions of dollars to support non-profit organizations in the communities Darden restaurants serve. Darden Foundation The Darden Foundation was founded in 1995 and named for its founder Bill Darden. In partnership with more than 2,100 restaurants and 200,000 employees, the Darden Foundation works each day — through grant making and strong partnerships — to bring a tradition of service to life in every community Darden serves (http://www.dardenfoundation.com, 2014). The Darden Foundation is focused and committed to making a meaningful impact on the communities they serve. The Darden Foundation identifies and invests in national nonprofits across the U.S. and near its company headquarters in Central Florida. The Darden...
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...Case 1 Slavica Ristoska 6/3/15 1. How does Darden segment and target the sit-down dining market? Use the full spectrum of segmentation variables in your response. Answer: Psychographic Segmentation is represented by Olive Garden’s plan to build a dining experience around the concept of a fabled Italian family. Olive Garden’s marketing team learned that a primary customer insight shows that customers are as interested in emotional nourishment as they are in physical nourishment. Styling the restaurant as an Italian farmhouse, commercials that invite you to be “part of the family”, and training at their Culinary Institute in Tuscany has shaped a genuine Italian menu. Geographic Segmentation is something that Darden exhibits in the Longhorn chain. Longhorn Restaurants are currently only found in the eastern half of the US. This offers an opportunity for extensive expansion going forward. Demographic Segmentation is exemplified by Red Lobster’s efforts to fill the gap between fast-food seafood and upscale white-tablecloth restaurants. Behavioral Segmentation is realized in usage rates. Darden, along with all other sit-down restaurants, are seeing a decline in the frequency that diners are eating out at sit-down meals. This is a result of economic decline and consumers becoming more particular with how they chose to use their limited finance resources. ...
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...MBAA 606 Talisha Quinta Case Study Write- up Red Lobster March 17, 2015 COMPANY OVERVIEW Red Lobster is a chain of casual dining restaurants, founded and managed by Bill Darden. The headquarters of the company is located Florida, and it has branches in Japan, United Arab Emirates, and Canada. Red Lobster has approximately 698 branches. The company was formed in 1968, with the aim of providing a place where Americans will get some seafood. The company was successful in introducing fresh and new delicacies to their customers. These fresh dishes became popular, and this accelerated the growth of the company, and in 1980s, the company made its presence in Canada. However, its Canadian experience was not good; this is because the company made lots of losses. Competition was stiff in Canada, and due to poor strategies and lack of sufficient market information, the company was forced to close some of its branches in Quebec, Canada. This happened on September 1997. In 1995, Red Lobster, Olive Garden and Bahama Breeze were integrated, as part of the Darden Restaurants Inc. Joe Lee was then in charge as the Chief Executive Officer, and later on, he handed the company to Clarence Otis. The company is passionate about seafood, and over the years, the company has initiated the culture of innovation for the purposes of introducing and developing new menus that will satisfy the needs of its customers. Red Lobster has become a household name and over the years was able to gain...
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...Acknowledgement I take the opportunity to show my appreciation to the following people for their help during this educational period. I am grateful to the Wisynco Group of Companies for facilitating me for my work experience assignment. I have conjured a lot of knowledge during the short period of time spent working at the organization. To my supervisor Miss Sasha Lewis and the staff of the Employees Benefits Department who helped me develop in the right way in the period. To my school, the School of Business Administration, University of Technology, for providing a course such as this which gives students the opportunity to put the skills taught in class into action. This course has allowed me to examine myself as it related to how competent I am in the working world and it truly was a marvellous experience. Thank you all. Introduction This assignment gives a brief summary of my six (6) weeks of Work Experience done at the Wisynco Corporate Office. This experience is a core component needed to be completed for the module Cooperative Experience. The report will allow readers to see my opinion on the whole experience as it will highlight my ups and downs during the period. I will also make references to practices incorporated by other organizations and will make recommendations as it concerns how I could of made the journey a lot better. Company Overview WISYNCO is located in St. Catherine, Jamaica, and operates from two main locations. Manufacturing takes...
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...Summary General Mills first began as a flour Mill in the 1860’s and since the beginning they have been a successful, innovative company. Throughout the years they have grown to becoming the third largest food company in North America. General mills is committed to diversity, innovation and the relationships they have built. They believe their stakeholders are as important to the company as their customers, keeping them in mind for every business decision made. They have 6 key stakeholders; consumers, customers, partners, teams, shareholders and communities. General Mills believes the success of their stakeholders is a success for the company, every decision they make must add value to for their stakeholders. In 2001 General Mills completed a merger with their long-time competitor, Pillsbury. Both sides of the merger felt this was the best decision for each company involved, General Mills felt it would add value to shareholders, while Pillsbury was just happy the business would stay local. The merger was complete with a $10.5 billion price tag and would total $13 billion in annual sales. The only problem was Pillsbury’s weak performance, causing layoffs for General Mills. The best solution to remedy this problem is for General Mills to get its thinking caps on and come up with a new innovative product line for Pillsbury. It will take time and a lot of effort, but in the end the benefits will improve the new company and get Pillsbury performing at the same level as General Mills...
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...Allen McKinney MKT 101 02/28/13 Company Case 6 – Darden Restaurants: Balancing Standardization and Differentiation 1. Use the full spectrum of segmentation variables, describe how Darden segments and target the sit-down dining market? Psychographic Segmentation is represented by Olive Garden’s plan to build a dining experience around the concept of a fabled Italian family. Olive Garden’s marketing team learned that a primary customer insight shows that customers are as interested in emotional nourishment as they are in physical nourishment. Styling the restaurant as an Italian farmhouse, commercials that invite you to be “part of the family”, and training at their Culinary Institute in Tuscany has shaped a genuine Italian menu. Geographic Segmentation is something that Darden exhibits in the Longhorn chain. Longhorn Restaurants are currently only found in the eastern half of the US. This offers an opportunity for extensive expansion going forward. Demographic Segmentation is exemplified by Red Lobster’s efforts to fill the gap between fast-food seafood and upscale white-tablecloth restaurants. Behavioral Segmentation is realized in usage rates. Darden, along with all other sit-down restaurants, are seeing a decline in the frequency that diners are eating out at sit-down meals. This is a result of economic decline and consumers becoming more particular with how they chose to use their limited finance resources. 2. Has Darden differentiated and positioned its brands...
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...GENERAL MILLS, INCORPORATED A Cost Accounting Analysis COMPANY BACKGROUND General Mills (GSI) is the sixth largest food company in the world. The company currently operates in more than 100 foreign countries and employs over 35,000 people. . GSI manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide and supplies branded and unbranded food products to the foodservice and commercial baking industries. The company manufactures cereals, yogurt, ready-to-serve soup, dry dinners, frozen vegetables, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, frozen pizza, flour, fruit and snacks; and organic products, including soup, granola bars, and cereals; and ice cream and frozen desserts, and high fiber snacks. Its best knows product brands are Betty Crocker, Green Giant, Pillsbury, Old El Paso, Cheerios and Haagen-Dazs. It markets its products through its direct sales, broker and distribution a to grocery stores, mass merchandisers, membership stores, natural food chains, drug, dollar and discount chains, commercial and noncommercial foodservice distributors and operators, restaurants, and convenience stores. The company was founded in 1928 and is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. GSI’s businesses are organized into three operating segments: U.S. Retail, International, and Bakeries and Foodservice. The U.S. Retail segment includes sales to grocery stores, mass merchandising, and membership stores such as BJ’s, Sam’s and Costco, natural food chains, drug,...
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...Next time you are at the grocery store choose one food that you buy on a regular basis and examine the Nutrition Facts Panel. A good place to start would be breakfast cereal or yogurt. Check out the serving size, calories per serving, and % Daily Value for fat and sodium. Compare that product to a similar products. Does the product you usually consume have more or less or any nutrient than you thought? Were there products that were similar that may be a better choice for your overall diet? If so, give the new product a try; you may be willing to make a trade-off to make your usual choice the healthier choice. ------------------------------------------------- Compare Breakfast Cereals | Special K Red Berries | Multigrain Cheerios | General Mills Kix | Serving Size | 1 cup | 1 cup | 1.25 cups | Calories per serving | 110 | 110 | 110 | Fat grams | 0g | 1 g | 1 g | Sodium milligrams | 190 mg | 120 mg | 180 mg | ------------------------------------------------- Compare Yogurts | Chobani Greek Strawberry Yogurt | Dannon Light & Fit Greek Strawberry Yogurt | Chobani Simply Fit 100 Cal Strawberry Yogurt | Serving Size | 8 oz | 5.3 oz | 5.3 oz | Calories per serving | 190 | 80 | 100 | Fat grams | 0g | 0g | 0g | Sodium milligrams | 90mg | 55mg | 65mg | Based on what you found in this activity, will you change the cereal or yogurt that you usually buy? Why or why not? For the cereals, all three are ones that I buy, but I buy the Special K red berries...
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...aisle included a common pricing strategy with nothing below two dollars and nothing above five. Their packaging included famous people on the cover along with slim people to target customers that want to be healthy along with famous movie characters on the cover including Star Wars and Minions along with animals and bright colors on the front of the boxes to target small children. The sales that were being promoted included a, “Get a free personalized fitness program” and “Earn up to $200 toward your next vacation” on the front of the cereal boxes. In the promotion strategies, there did not appear to be any puffery or exaggerated claims. Furthermore, there were six different brands of cereal at Meijer including Kellogg’s, Meijer, General Mills, Quaker, Post and Weight Watchers. The different brands were blended together with the top shelf reserved for the small boxes and the bottom shelf cluttered with family sized...
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