Adweek - 02.09.2019

17

COURTESYOF GENERAL MILLS

ADWEEK

®

| SEPTEMBER 2, 2019

DRIVE SOCIETAL

IMPACT

I think “good”—today,

in the context of what’s

happening in the world—

is actually one of the

best words. I love the

fact that it can be the

unifying theme across all

of these different brands.

So with the mission

about being a force for

good, we launched these

three big pillars. One is

around sustainability. So

we have this objective to

get to a million acres of

regenerative agricultural

[soil] in the next 10

years. And that is a

huge thing—that we can

really impact climate

change. General Mills is

one of the biggest food

manufacturers [and] can

have a very active role in

that. And so we have this

idea, whether it’s an hour

spent of your time as an

employee or dollars that

you give or things that

our brands do, like Box

Tops for Education. ...

All these things are

good. And so how do we

just aggregate that good

to do more for the whole

of society?

ACCELERATE

DIVERSE TALENT

We do a lot of recruiting

from around the country

and around the world.

And I think General Mills

has really been leading

the way in terms of the

kinds of candidates that

we bring on from many

diverse backgrounds.

... I think where there’s

an opportunity for our

company—we’ve been

focused on diversity and

inclusion but still want to

be more—is when we get

people in the doors, how

do we set them up for the

most success possible

so that we cannot only

retain talent, but really

accelerate them to get

into positions where they

can have even a bigger

impact? ... You need

those distinct points

of view. You need the

diversity of thought to be

able to innovate and keep

up with the way that

things are changing.

SOLVE

CONSUMER

NEEDS

As a consumer-first

strategy, we are getting

to a place where we

know our consumer

across this whole

spectrum of their life

and understand the

moments that [trigger]

some kind of problem

that we can come in

and solve. And so as we

reoriented that, all of a

sudden these solutions

become much more

obvious and it creates a

ton of opportunities that

we’re figuring out how to

go after for new growth.

And I get a lot of energy

around that as well

because as a company

with all these different

categories, we’ve been

kind of fragmented in

the way we approach

them. And I think there’s

an opportunity to still

build brands ... but also

to think about solutions

as a portfolio over the

top that’s going to lead

us into new businesses,

not just in products

but in services and

experiences.

ADOPT A

GROWTH

MINDSET

As a company, we’re

really great at scale and

efficiency and executing

really well. On the flip

side, I think we have this

opportunity to bring

what we’re calling a

growth mindset to the

company. ... That’s a

newer muscle for us to

stretch, just because

we’ve been so disrupted

as a food industry over

the last decade or so,

we’ve had to almost

take a step back and

say, OK, now we’ve got

to think about growth.

How should we do that?

I think that we’re still

trying to build back into

us, but that also gives

me so much optimism

because there are just

so many opportunities

with that disruption, and

people are seeing this is

a culture of growth. It’s

getting to think about

innovation in a totally

different light, which I

think will lead us down

paths of things that we

haven’t done before.

FOSTER

INTERNAL

CULTURE

THROUGH

MARKETING

Our brands have become

much more consistent,

[and we’ve realized,]

hey, there are different

consumers out there that

we may not have been

reaching as much as we

should. We want to bring

them into the fold and

think about that more,

whether that’s through

diversity or gender or

whatever else. That has

a huge influence on the

people that are working

inside the company and

the culture of embracing

diverse perspectives

and embracing people

that look like me.

And so, by us as a

company, marketing

or building our brands

with those consumers,

if that person or group

represents me internally,

then I feel even more

empowered by that.

BRAD HIRANAGA

GENERAL MILLS’ CHIEF

BRAND OFFICER OF

NORTH AMERICA SHARES

HIS INSIGHTS ON THE

CMO MOVES PODCAST.

BY NADINE DIETZ

A Billion

Acts of Good

WINNER’S PLAYBOOK

CHECK OUT THE CMO MOVES PODCAST AT ADWEEK.COM