Pillsbury Rolls Out Interactive Tools and Treats

General Mills brand connects TV ads to mobile with Shazam.

pillsbury-shazamappThe Pillsbury doughboy has gone sweet on mobile. General Mills-owned Pillsbury hopes to capture young moms by linking a TV spot launched today to mobile recipe content through the Shazam app. The brand also aims to connect families to its iconic spokes-character through customizable holiday videos that can be shared on Facebook.

This month, 15-second television ads for Pillsbury Crescents – an American holiday table staple – will prompt viewers to use the Shazam to get recipes for goodies like Bacon-Cheddar Pinwheels and Chocolate-Filled Crescents. They can then save the recipes on their phones to check out later while shopping or meal planning.

“Shazam now for more easy ideas,” reads an image with the Shazam logo featured in the TV spot, which highlights a recipe for Crescent-Wrapped Brie. By employing the Shazam app, people can grab and store the recipe and list of ingredients on their mobile devices.

According to a press release, General Mills is after “millennial moms” in particular with the app initiative; these young mothers are tech savvy and prone to having their phones nearby at all times, meaning they are likely to have them near while watching TV as well as while shopping.

Shazam has also worked with brands including Honda, Progressive, and T.J. Maxx. The company, which enabled TV ad support in its music discovery app in July, now allows users to purchase items seen on TV through a relationship with Delivery Agent.

pillsbury-memories-videoThe Shazam program complements a less-utilitarian interactive offering from Pillsbury that appears to be aimed at fostering tighter bonds with families and their holiday traditions. As promoted on Facebook, the “Memories Made Easy” tool lets people insert their own photos into a slideshow-style video, which can also be customized with their choice of select songs. The final videos can be shared on Facebook, Twitter, or via email.

Other General Mills brands are using digital and social media, too. For instance, Betty Crocker – a contestant in ClickZ’s Holiday Social Showdown – has encouraged people to use the #Betty911 hashtag when asking holiday cooking questions on Twitter.

“Kitchen experts will be on hand Dec. 16 – 25 to answer your cooking and baking questions! Just tweet us with the hashtag #Betty911!” noted a December 2 post to the official @BettyCrocker Twitter feed.

The cookie and cake mix brand is also pushing recipes for treats such as Whiskey Cake on Facebook, and offers a cookie recipe each day throughout December through a special 24 Days of Cookies email newsletter.

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