Cereal Wars - Cereal Offenders | 4
Business Wars
Audible
4.6 • 13.5K Ratings
🗓️ 24 July 2019
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It’s the late 1950s and General Mills is playing catch-up. While Kellogg’s and Post are thriving on the back of animated characters and sugary cereals, General Mills’ cereals are looking stale. So now the Cheerios maker is on a mission to create its own roster of cartoon heroes who can charm children into demanding its cereals.
As General Mills fights back, Post is looking to the stars. It's planning a direct attack on Kellogg’s best-selling cereal with help from the space race.
But after years of selling sugary cereal with loveable characters, the cereal giants are about to face a backlash on Capitol Hill.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, prime members, you can listen to business wars, add free on Amazon music. |
| 0:04.8 | Download the app today. |
| 0:07.0 | It's January 1959, and executives at General Mills headquarters in Minneapolis are gathering |
| 0:19.9 | to hear from the man they hope will be able to jumpstart the company's serial fortunes. |
| 0:25.0 | That man is the Dapper Gordon Johnson. |
| 0:28.3 | The account director from the Madison Avenue advertising agency DFS. |
| 0:34.1 | General Mills has been treading water for a decade. |
| 0:37.8 | Its rapid growth in the 30s is now a distant memory. |
| 0:42.2 | General Mills has an 18% share of the market, but it's still behind post and has less than |
| 0:47.4 | half of Kellogg's market share. |
| 0:50.2 | So just how can the company move up from third place? |
| 0:55.6 | The Johnson is confident he has the answer. |
| 1:00.6 | Cheerios, tricks and cocoa puffs are great products, but they don't stand out. |
| 1:06.5 | Look at Kellogg's. |
| 1:07.8 | They've got Tony the Tiger and the sponsor Hanabar Beras Huckleberry Hound Cartoon Show. |
| 1:14.4 | What you've got to understand is your customers aren't the parents. |
| 1:19.6 | Sure they pick up the tab, but it's the kids who call the shots. |
| 1:24.3 | And they'll scream until their parents get the serial they want. |
| 1:28.6 | And kids want the serials with characters they love. |
| 1:32.3 | So we got to create those characters. |
| 1:36.7 | General Mills ad chief folds his arms. |
| 1:39.6 | And just how do you plan to do that? |
... |
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