Wheaties: Going forward by going back

January is typically a busy month for me, so I've been rather quiet here on and on social media, but with all that's happening in the cereal world, it's time to get back!

Over the years Wheaties has been one of the favorite topics on this blog. The venerable brand has been a showcase of cereal marketing and how it expresses itself in American culture, but for at least a decade has struggled to find itself. There have been numerous attempts to revive the cereal, including the ill-fated Wheaties Fuel, but nothing has seemed to work.

It was not that long ago when Wheaties was known for its representation of high profile professional sports teams and athletes. I'm sure, however, General Mills discovered that after all the licensing fees and costs associated with that, sales just did not warrant continuation of that strategy. Last year, however, we began to see a definite shift more toward high profile athletes outside of the major professional sports leagues, that is, athletes from extreme sports that attracted a much younger audience. Even the box design was updated to reflect greater energy and with a more contemporary feel. And, last summer the company engaged consumers in a way to vote for the next star to grace the cover of Wheaties, from a roster of athletes representing motocross, para-athletics, lacrosse, mixed martial arts, and women's soccer. The winner of the contest was Anthony Pettis, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight champion in 2013, a definite sign that Wheaties is being taken to a whole new generation.

Apart from the new breed of athletes that are starting to appear on the boxes, of equal interest is the new, or rather old, Wheaties design that has appeared with this rebirth of the cereal. Gone is the noisy, colorful redesign attempt of the last year or so. Instead, Wheaties is returning to its roots, with a simple orange and white box, with no extraneous markings to distract from what really matters, the athlete. While millenials do not have memories of the boxes of 30 or 40 years ago, the stark throwback nature of this design is bold and should stand out on the grocery store shelves.

It will be interesting to watch whether this latest strategy is the one that General Mills needs for success with Wheaties.

Now, if they could only update the cereal itself, but that's another story...