Brand Rewired: Connecting Intellectual Property, Branding, and Creativity Strategy

Chapter 8. The Thought Leaders

While most companies have not yet hired a Brand Maestro, the beginnings of a Brand Rewired approach are growing in many leading companies. We overview here just a few of the companies and thought leaders we researched and/or interviewed and provide short excerpts of their approach to collaborative teams. We have sought to interview the leaders in companies that have been established for more than 100 years, as well as those that have recently emerged in the last 10 years, to provide a unique perspective.

General Mills

General Mills traces its roots to two flour mills on the banks of the Mississippi River. Officially formed in a merger of regional flour milling companies in 1928, the stock for the company was first traded on the New York Stock Exchange on November 30, 1928. To assist in its growth, the company maintained a philosophy of allowing the mills to keep their own identity. Several well-known brands and marketing campaigns boosted the company's growth. In 1907, Benjamin S. Bull, ad manager for the Washburn Crosby Company, created an advertising campaign that used the slogan, "Eventually... Why Not Now?" This campaign was so popular that it forced then-competitor Pillsbury to create a responsive ad campaign stating "Because Pillsbury's Best." The ad was used well into the 1940s.

Another example of marketing success occurred in 1921, when an advertisement ran in the Saturday Evening Post for Gold Medal Flour asking customers to complete and return ...