General Mills Creates New Cereal Category By Beth Heitzma

CHICAGO - DDB Needham Chicago has the formidable task in the next couple of months of trying to get people to think about breakfast cereal after breakfast.

General Mills last week launched its new product, Fingos, as the first-ever ‘all-day cereal.’ The company plans to back the new product, which is packaged in a narrower box, with $34-million worth of sampling and advertising in what will be one of its biggest new product launches ever.
The product looks more like a snack cracker than a normal cereal. Each piece is larger and thicker than traditional cereal pieces meant to be eaten with spoon and milk.
‘Our idea was to grow the cereal category,’ said Barry Davis, General Mills marketing manager on Fingos. ‘The difference with Fingos is the usage. This is the beginning of a new segment . . . all-day cereal.’
General Mills’ research shows that 93% of all cereal consumption happens at breakfast. However, Davis said the company is looking to expand cereal usage into the rest of the day. More and more, he said, kids are eating cereal after school and men and women are snacking on cereal. Davis emphasized, however, that Fingos are not positioned against snack foods and will be found on shelves in the cereal aisle.
‘By putting Fingos in the cereal aisle, General Mills can better manage its shelf position in an area where they have considerable clout,’ said an executive familiar with the launch.
Davis worked closely with Needham, and specifically group cd Maureen Moore’s creative group, to develop the product name, postitioning, packaging and ultimately the advertising campaign scheduled to break at the end of April. Davis also said he is considering alternative media, such as outdoor, for the introduction.
General Mills began selling Fingos to the trade last week and expects the product to be on shelf in the Northeast by May. Fingos should reach the rest of the country by the end of the year.
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