PROVIDE A RESPONSE TO THIS STUDENTS DISCUSSION BASED ON THE QUESTION BELOW, PROVIDE IN DETAIL.
What are General Mills' corporate-level strategies? What generic Porter strategy does the company follow? Are General Mills' strategic choices aligned with the Porter generic strategy you believe the company follows?
I believe that General Mills follows Porter's differentiation and focus strategies. General Mills uses their wide variety of products, world class multicultural marketing, and focus strategies (General Mills, 2016) to drive growth.
Differentiation is utilized when the targeted consumer group is not price-sensitive, the market is competitive, and customer needs are very specific. Successful differentiation can be demonstrated by manufacturing unique products, serving customers through new or different distribution channels, or by creating perceived differences in the buyer's mind through clever marketing (Spencer, 2015). General Mills demonstrates differentiation through their partnership with brand names like Haagen Daaz, a brand that is synonymous with high quality ice cream products.
These products tend to be more expensive, but their customers purchase the brand for its reputation around quality. The same can be said of GM's cereal products as well. Grocery store generics are cheaper versions of GMs products. Rather than compete with them around price point, General Mills markets themselves as a higher quality brand.
Porter's Focus strategy is characterized by focusing on new or distinct, target markets with specialized needs. By tailoring advertising efforts on a narrower market segment, it can better meet the needs of that target market. General Mills focuses on 4 consumer groups with the intent to drive growth: emerging markets, Senior Citizens, Millennials, and multicultural consumers. General Mills is the first name brand processed food company to enter emerging markets in Asia (China, Japan, and India). This would put their products into the homes of billions of new customers (General Mills, 2016).
General Mills' commitment to their strategies is in line with Porter's Differentiation and Focus strategies. By focusing on the production of items that capture the interest in these emerging markets, and by creating unique marketing campaigns centered around high quality products, General Mills believes that they can be successful for years to come.