Mark Addicks
Mark W. Addicks is an Entrepreneur, Board Member, Professor and active Volunteer.
Addicks currently heads a restaurant business, Mason Jar Kitchen & Cupcake Bakery, and is working on two consumer product start-ups for launch in Spring 2021. He has previously served as a Director on boards for The Big Know, Ruby Tuesday and Farmwise. He currently serves as a Director for rWorld, the market leader in reusable cups and restaurant ware, as well as Bussin’ Birria, a fast casual start-up in the Twin Cities. His non-profit work includes serving on the Board of Trustees for the Walker Arts Center, The Spoon Foundation and the Minneapolis Good Chair Project. He is a founding Board member for The BrandLab, a national organization dedicated to changing the face of the marketing and advertising industries by making them more reflective of the diverse consumer population. Addicks is a Professor at the University of St. Thomas’ Opus School of Business where he holds a Chair in Marketing Innovation and is also an Advisory Board member for the Rise and Shine agency based in Minneapolis. He also completed the Master Gardener qualification at the University of Minnesota
Mark Addicks spent the majority of his career with General Mills, a Fortune 500 global foods company, where he retired in 2015 as the Chief Marketing Office, after 27 years of total service.
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 over 12 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 which upon his departure donated over $80MM annually to U.S. schools and was a major social responsibility platform at retail and through its 90,000 school coordinators. Addicks also championed the Company’s digital and social efforts as a leading top 5 food content provider across digital sites, apps, and through traditional print including cookbooks. At his departure, the General Mills food sites (including bettycrocker.com, tablespoon.com, quericavida.com, pillsbury.com) attracted over 300 million annual visits with a robust Consumer Relationship Marketing (CRM) capability.
Addicks worked across the General Mills portfolio, touching virtually all 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, the Darden Business School at the University of Virginia and many others.
Addicks graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government from the University of Texas at Austin. He received his Master of Business degree from Harvard Business School in 1988.
