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Published in · 5 min read · Jan 12, 2017
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On the eve of the 75th anniversary of M&M’S® I had the great fortune of returning to Mars Chocolate North America to celebrate a truly iconic brand. What makes an iconic brand? For me, an iconic brand is one with strong equity and extraordinary affinity and M&M’S® holds a distinct place in consumers’ hearts. Fans love the brand not only for the great taste that’s remained consistent for 75 years, but also for how the brand has evolved, continuing to excite the consumers of yesterday, today and tomorrow.
As Mars Chocolate began planning for this milestone, we knew we needed to stand out, be distinctive and engage with consumers in meaningful ways. We needed to break out of our candy-coated shell, take risks, break traditional marketing practices and create new habits focused on clear ambition, creative freedom and cultural relevance.
There was so much to celebrate for this special birthday that we celebrated for the entire year. Among our special 2016 moments were a contest for a new Peanut M&M’S flavor; artistic collaborations through music, design and social; a remake of our famous song “Candyman”; charitable giving through Operation Gratitude and Red Nose Day; and asking consumers to #CelebratewithM.
Today, the popularity of M&M’S® continues to expand with annual sales of more than $1 billion in the U.S. Over the past year, M&M’S® has grown eight times faster than the entire chocolate category. It is consumers’ favorite non-seasonal brand and the fastest growing non-seasonal brand of the last two years. [1]
Beyond the shelf, M&M’S®saw social engagement with the brand growing 80 percent year over year, and was ranked as one of “The 10 Best-Perceived Brands Among Consumers in 2016” and named the 2016 Mobile Marketer of the Year by Mobile Marketer. Following a successful 75th anniversary year, the future looks bright for M&M’S®.
From Military Ration to Household Favorite
To celebrate 75 years of an iconic brand, we started by celebrating its history. M&M’S® were first created in Newark, New Jersey in 1941 as a military ration during World War II. The hard-shelled chocolate candy was perfect for its durability in warm climates and its ability to “melt in your mouth, but not your hand.”
When soldiers returned to the United States after the war, they desired the treats they had enjoyed for years overseas, which led Mars to begin creating the products for consumers in 1947. In appreciation of our history, M&M’S® this past year partnered with Operation Gratitude. We donated $750,000 worth of M&M’S® products to military care packages and released a special edition of Red, White and Blue M&M’S®.
We also honored our iconic M&M’S® characters with special retro packaging highlighting the characters’ evolution through the years.
Celebrating 75 Years in Style & Providing Creative Freedom
Our anniversary celebration began with the release of “Candyman,” a modern remake of Sammy Davis Jr.’s The Candy Man song featuring award-winning artists Zedd and Aloe Blacc. The song topped the iTunes Dance Charts at #4 and “Candyman” music video has almost 40 million views.
Once we tasted creative freedom, we surrounded ourselves with other cultural influencers and artistic entrepreneurs. We focused on three areas of content collaboration: music, artists and social. And for the first time in M&M’S® history, M&M’S® went into fashion with new packaging.
Beyond colorful artist collaborations, we engaged with social influencers. Rhett & Link made us laugh, Kurt Hugo Schneider put his own spin on “Candyman” and Emma Roberts #CelebrateWithM with a special birthday cake. These collaborations highlighted the ways we could celebrate with the brand and allow artists and consumers to make it their own.
But we also wanted our consumer fans to have their voices heard. That’s why we launched the first M&M’S® Peanut flavors competition, including: Chili Nut, Honey Nut and Coffee Nut. During our “Flavor Vote” competition, consumers were asked to vote on a new M&M’S® Peanut flavor. The winner? Coffee Nut!
What we learned
As a marketer, I’ve learned so much throughout our M&M’S® 75th anniversary year. Along with the importance of testing limits and creating engaging content, here are a few of those lessons:
1. Creatives need creative pushes. Working in collaboration with long-term agency partners allowed us to drive creative initiatives forward internally and externally with unique and interactive content to celebrate the anniversary. It allowed us to take risks and push back, asking ourselves, how can we get from good to great to genius? Because we could tailor interactive content that met the needs of our diverse audience of fans, we engaged fans in new and entertaining ways all year long.
2. Control the ambition, free the creative. To execute a campaign of this stature, it was important to focus our energy on the big picture: delighting our consumers. Since brands today are constantly evolving, consumers expect to engage with brands in authentic ways on a consistent basis. We learned that by focusing on the broader ambition of the campaign versus focusing on strict coherency and consistency, we could ensure that every piece content delivered to consumers was entertaining and truly brought a smile to their faces.
3. Be a fan. The best way to execute a yearlong culturally relevant campaign was to step out of our “marketing” and “executive” shoes and step into the shoes of a true brand fan. By fully immersing ourselves in the brand’s colorful fun, humor and personality, we allowed ourselves to feel the emotions of dedicated M&M’S® fans around the country. In all honestly, there were times when I didn’t “get” the content, but our younger fans did and that’s what matters!
4. Start a conversation. Building a brand has traditionally been about looking for ways of joining the conversation, being a part of entertainment, slipping into current culture. With the constant development of new technology, culture and subcultures have been democratized, it is imperative for brands today to continuously evolve and always think: What is the conversation I want to start about my brand? Versus what do I want to say about my brand?
With our 75th anniversary milestone now passed, we at Mars Chocolate North America are continuing to celebrate the iconic M&M’S® brand every day. And as a marketer, I look forward to applying these lessons learned and experiences for years to come.
[1] Source: AC Nielsen US xAOC Incl Conv. Absolute $$ growth November 2014 to November 2016
Source: AC Nielsen US xAOC Incl Conv $ Share non seasonal
