Tribal DDB Cooks Up Revamped Betty Crocker Site - General Mills Inc - Brief Article

Brandweek, May 14, 2001 by Jennifer Owens

In a bit of good news for DDB Worldwide--which was ousted this month by consumer packaged goods purveyor General Mills, ending a 39-year relationship--the Minneapolis-based consumer brand giant has unveiled a redesigned BettyCrocker.com Web site baked up by New York-based i-shop Tribal DDB.

The site, which is currently in soft launch mode, was developed over the past year by Tribal DDB's Chicago outpost, which worked closely with the Betty Crocker Kitchens to cull the 2,000-plus recipes now featured online.

But more than enhancing the site's recipe database, the redesign also brings more interactivity to the site. For example, the site now offers a "Dinner in 30 Minutes" quickie meal planner, along with an updated version of "What's on Hand," which matches what's in a user's cupboard with a recipe. Users can also search by type of dish, cuisine and cooking method.

"There's also expanded content that we've taken from our cookbooks," said a General Mills spokeswoman. "And there [will be] more frequent content updates."

BettyCrocker.com's first major face-lift since launching in 1997 also brings new functionality to the site, including "My Recipe Box," which allows registered users to save their favorite Betty Crocker recipes online. The site also offers printer-friendly pages for, say, users who want to look up recipes at work, then shop for the ingredients on the way home.

Recipes have long been important to the Betty Crocker brand. Since the 1950s, there have been more than 200 Betty Crocker cookbooks, while according to General Mills, Betty Crocker's New Cookbook is one of the world's best-selling cookbooks with more than 30 million copies sold. The cookbooks are available for sale on the site.

Meanwhile, first established in 1921, the Betty Crocker brand and its familiar red spoon logo has since grown to include everything from licensed household items to cake mixes and Tuna Helper.

Often written in the first person, BettyCrocker.com encourages the use of Betty Crocker products. Take Monday night on the "Cooking for Two" meal planner page: "Bowl Appetit!, the great-tasting, on-the-go, 5-minute meal ... comes in its own serving bowl. Pick and serve your favorite!"

But while the site already is listed on Betty Crocker product packaging, its spokeswoman would not comment on how General Mills plans to market the updated site.