General Mills is giving cooking enthusiasts a new tool to use in the kitchen with the launch of the Betty Crocker Cookbook for the iPad.

The free application includes more than 2,500 recipes, step-by-step preparation instructions and other built-in tools designed to make cooking easier. It was the most downloaded iPad application in the Apple App Store on June 7.

?We really believed the best marketing experiences are desirable in and of themselves by the consumer,? said Jason Brush, executive vice president of user experience design for Schematic, Los Angeles. ?They should be entertaining, or they should have some function or utility, which is really the idea of creating marketing that is user-centered.

?It?s a new idea in terms of online, moving from banner ads to more sophisticated experiences,? he said. ?It helps people, but it also allows brands to have a more substantive relationship with their customers.

?They can have a conversation with them, and find out what people?s needs are so that marketing becomes a two-way street.?

Schematic, WPP?s digital agency, designed the application.

General Mills? portfolio includes 100 leading United States brands, including Betty Crocker, Cheerios, Pillsbury and Chex.

Mobile cooking assistant
The application?s home page prompts users to search for either specific recipes, or to type in ingredients with which they want to cook.

A ?Surprise Me? button on the search page generates a recipe at random.

Here is a screen grab of the ingredient search feature in action:

A navigation bar on the bottom of the page lets users choose between the basic search option, a browse mode and a list of favorite recipes.

The browse feature includes broad categories of food such as appetizers, beverages and desserts.

Within each category, users can further refine their search with a drop-down that includes more specific options.

Beverages, for example, includes subcategories such as ?Coffee/Tea,? ?Smoothie? and ?Cooler.?

Within each specific recipe page, users will find ingredients, directions, an image of the desired food or beverage, nutritional information, and the option to add the page to their favorites list.

Here is a screengrab of a recipe page for ?Curry Chicken Pie?:

By clicking on the ?Cook Mode? button, users bring up a step-by-step guide for making the recipe, with numbered tabs that correspond with each step.

And, when the time comes to throw a dish in the oven, a built-in clock feature can count down the time.

When the timer runs down to :00, a bell sound rings from the iPad, alerting the user that time has expired.

The application is targeted to cooking enthusiasts.

In addition to holding the top spot in the Apple App Store, it was also the most downloaded lifestyle application for the iPad on June 11.

As of July 16, it was the 11th most downloaded lifestyle application.

Cross-platform experience
The Betty Crocker Cookbook was originally released for the iPhone last year (see story).

General Mills was looking for a way to leverage that content on additional platforms, and the iPad provided a golden opportunity, according to Schematic.

?If brands have already developed experiences that work in iPhone, what do you do with that content now that you have these new platforms?? Mr. Brush said. ?You have more interconnectivity and the assets you create for a mobile experience or Web experience can be transferred easily between platforms.

?That?s one thing we?re focused on,? he said. ?When you?re creating an experience and designing messages that are going to operate on the Web, how can that fluidly extend into mobile?

?You can get more reach with less investment by creating a strategy which works on multiple platforms at the same time.?

Final Take
Peter Finocchiaro, editorial assistant at Mobile Marketer, New York