Mark Addicks retired as the chief marketing officer for General Mills, a Fortune 500 global foods company, after 26 years of total service and joined the University of St. Thomas Opus College of Business as the Opus chair in marketing innovation.
Addicks joined General Mills in 1988 and held a variety of marketing leadership roles with increased responsibility during his tenure. He managed many of General Mills flagship brands, including general management of the Cheerios franchise with revenues exceeding $1 billion annually. As chief marketing officer, a position he held for the last 10 years, Addicks was responsible for the brand-building activities for the company’s global set of brands, as well as the training and continuing development of General Mills marketing organization and associated creative agencies. Addicks also led the innovation and expansion behind the company’s Box Tops for Education initiative. Today, the program raises more than $80 million annually for U.S. schools and is a major social responsibility platform in retail and through its 90,000 school coordinators. He also championed the company’s digital role as a leading top five food content provider across digital sites, apps and through traditional print, including cookbooks.
Addicks worked across the General Mills portfolio, touching virtually all of the company’s brands, and has been recognized as a top marketer by Ad Age. He has been a guest lecturer at many of the nation’s leading business schools, including Harvard Business School, the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and the Darden Business School at the University of Virginia. Addicks graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in government from the University of Texas at Austin. He received his Master of Business from Harvard Business School in 1988.
Today, Addicks resides in Minneapolis where he is active in a number of community endeavors, including tenure on the boards of the Walker Arts Center, Artspace, the BrandLab and the Minneapolis Lake Chair Project. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Ruby Tuesday and The Big Know. He is also completing his Master Gardener Certification through the University of Minnesota Extension and the State of Minnesota.
- Adjunct Faculty, University of St. Thomas, Saint Paul / Minneapolis (2016 - present)
- Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, General Mills, Minneapolis (2004 - 2015)
- Marketing Vice President for Consumer Marketing Services, General Mills, Minneapolis (1999 - 2004)
- Marketing Vice President - Cheerios Business Division, General Mills, Minneapolis (1995 - 1999)
- Marketing Director - New Products, Big G Division, General Mills, Minneapolis (1993 - 1995)
- Marketing Manager, General Mills, Minneapolis (1988 - 1993)
- Investor Relations, Anderson, Clayton and Company, Houston (1978 - 1986)