FUEL Your Creativity, THRIVE in Brand Development Contest

Have you seen the new Wheaties FUEL™ cereal in your neighborhood grocery store or viewed recent promotional campaigns for this Wheaties^® brand extension? Did Ben Johnson’s blog posts about Big G’s extensive co-creation efforts to revitalize the 85-year-old iconic Wheaties^® brand fascinate you? The MN AMA is proud to bring you exclusive access to the Wheaties FUEL™ development team in our upcoming Morning Program in April!

But wait, innovative marketing ideas are meant to be shared. To encourage intellectual discussions in brand development, the MN AMA is proud to present our second social media contest! Prizes include:

• Grand Prize: One full-year supply of Wheaties FUEL™, a $100 value
• Two signed Wheaties FUEL™ Cereal Packages, valued at $50 each
• Two free passes for the April program, valued at $50 each

The rules are simple. First, review Ben’s blog posts (The Wheaties FUEL™ Development Story Part 1 and Part 2) and the Wheaties.com website to familiarize yourself with General Mill’s product co-creation strategy. Then tell us your thoughts about the Wheaties FUEL™ campaign:

• What do you like about it or what don’t you like about it?
• What should Big G consider to improve their co-creation and promotional campaign?
• Provide an example of how similar product development and marketing strategy may or may not be successfully applied to another branded product/service other than the ready-to-eat cereal category.

Two-ways to Participate and Win:ⁱ

1. Participate through Facebook:
   Become a Fan of MNAMA and Wheaties on Facebook. Submit your answers via MNAMA Discussion: “FUEL Your Creativity, THRIVE in Brand Development Contest Submission (3/30/2010, 8AM CST - 04/05/2010, 12:00PM CST)”
2. Participate through Twitter:
   Follow @MNAMA and @Wheaties_FUEL on Twitter if you aren’t already doing so. Submit your answers via Twitter with hashtags #MNAMA #Wheaties. (NOTE: Both hashtags must be included in each qualified tweet.)

Be honest, be creative and be reasonable. All you have to do is share or tweet your original idea(s). Share and tweet as much as you'd like - just be sure to follow the instructions above. Don't want to join Facebook or Twitter? Sorry... this is the only way to enter this contest.

The contest will begin at 8:00 AM CST on Tuesday, March 30 and run until 12:00PM CST on Monday, April 5. Any discussion responses or tweets submitted before or after these dates/times will not be considered. One Signed Wheaties FUEL™ Cereal Package and one Free Program pass will be awarded to the top responses in each social media channel.ⁱⁱ The grand prize will be awarded to the best response received between Facebook and Twitter. The lucky winners will be announced at 5:00 P.M. on Tuesday, April 6. All prizes must be claimed at the event on April 13 at General Mills Headquarters, so please be sure you are able to attend! We promise it will be worth clearing your schedule for.

Questions? Feel free to leave a comment here, post your question on Facebook Participant Q&A discussion post or reach us via Twitter @MNAMA. Good luck, and spread the word!

ⁱ    Winning is limited to one (1) prize per participant. Participants may elect to participate exclusively through Facebook, Twitter or both. All participants must fully comply with the selected social media channel(s) requirements. Odds of winning are subjected to the quality of responses and the total number of participations. All submissions will be reviewed and judged by the MN AMA social media team. Current MN AMA Board Members and Social Media Team volunteers are not eligible to participate in this contest.

ⁱⁱ    Subjected to the quality of responses and the number of participations in each approved social media channel, the MN AMA reserves the rights to reassign prizes if deemed appropriate.