%>

Scoring a win for General Mills with a "Cheerioke" contest

Padilla Speer Beardsley and General Mills hit a high note when we combined a favorite American pastime — karaoke — with the launch of Yogurt Burst Cheerios. The task demanded great creativity under a tight deadline. We had just two months to plan and execute the campaign, which promoted the 10th version of the venerated brand.

Padilla devised a nationwide "Cheerioke" contest, inviting people to go online at Cheerioscontest.com to complete an entry form. They also could download the music and lyrics of the campaign's theme song, "I'm Into Something Good," by the '60s band Herman's Hermits.

A singing press kit generated 75 stories in newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and The New York Daily News. "Cheerioke" was mentioned in nearly 200 online stories and Cheerioscontest.com received more than 18,000 unique hits.

Consumers across the country auditioned live during a broadcast from the Mall of America, hosted by legendary radio personality Rick Dees and carried by radio stations in nine key sales markets. More than 4,000 online votes were cast to determine the "Cheerioke" winner.

General Mills also scored a win — Yogurt Burst Cheerios captured a 1-percent share of the $9 billion-a-year U.S. cereal market in just five months.