MARS, INC

M&M World

Course: Marketing Professor: Wahud Vannoni Name: Evangelos Pantidos E-mail: epantidos2012@student.hult.edu

Mars brands

Which Brand category do M&M belong to?

M&M belong to the chocolate brand category and more specifically M&M is a confectionery brand. M&Ms is an example of a successful global business endeavour. It is a 3$billion global brand that has secured and retained its dominant market position as number one confectionery brand, through extensive use of global marketing strategies. This strategy has been underpinned with new product developments and strong advertising personalities introduced to the M&Ms family.

Is there a parent company? If so which is it and what other brands does the parent company own in that particular category?
M&M's are produced by Mars, Incorporated. Mars, Incorporated is a worldwide manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other food products with US$30 billion in annual sales in 2010, and is ranked as the 5th largest privately held company in the United States by Forbes. In the Chocolate category Mars, Inc owns the companies below :

Chocolate

3 Musketeers Balisto Bounty Celebrations Dove Ethel M Galaxy Galaxy Bubbles Fling Flyte Kudos M&M's Maltesers Mars Minstrels Milky Way Revels Snickers Topic Tracker Twix

Comments on the kind of experience the owners are trying to impress upon the customers. HOW do they want us to FEEL? HOW do they achieve it?

The people behind the scenes of the company understand that every sustainable advantage comes from the Brand, not from the product. The M&Ms strategy complements their traditional advertising and aligns perfectly to the brand identity and mantra of always fun. They know very well that the decision making derives from our feelings and doesnt have to be fully understood why it occurs. M&Ms has decided to freshen up the brand and strengthen the emotional bonds with its loyal customers by leveraging the compelling equities of colour and fun to create consumer interest. And this is what the store does.

The experience provided, takes the customer to a meaningful journey throughout different destinations. From the entrance which gives a London M&M experience, to the floor with the Christmas merchandize products as well as the collectives ones moving down to the personified floors that bring the customers to the present and the future of M&Ms. In the meanwhile, the set of actions performed such as the exhibition of its product, its packaging, its communication, its trade dress, its merchandize, the characters it endorses , even the employees behaviours, all derive directly from M&Ms DNA instead of being adjusted in retrospect to fit its character. Those actions have a symbolic value for the customers they satisfy deeper needs that inhabit to our minds such as : return to the innocence , escaping everyday life, magic, imagination and creativity essence, heroism, feeling of balance as well as the sense of involvement with a brand. Thus, they manage to enhance and broaden the brand awareness, create strong favorable and unique brand associations, escalate the positive reactions and desires and ultimately influence customers to create a high value and belief about the brand that can never betray them.

M&Ms personality
M&M have succeeded in creating a perception to peoples minds that the brand is alive and functions as a person with a distinct personality. The store aims at providing a meaningful journey for the customer, taking them to different and joyful destinations throughout the entire experience. They use imagery to create a collection of mental images not only of the visual sense but also of sensation and emotion. They want us to escape from our daily routine and make us feel happy and innocent again, two things that inhabit the true purpose of human life.

M&Ms stores has produced fun advertising that personify their main product which is candy. Considering the fact that each one of us has their own interests, personality and style., M&Ms world has achieved to makes everyone who enters the store identify a character, a game, a product that satisfies one of these traits. M&Ms branding has hinged on the creation of different characters for M&Ms main colours. Also, the slogan melt in your moth, not in your hand and the distinctive M on each candy - all play an important role . This personality-based approach makes everyone fit in one of those characters since they have been describing the most typical personas someone could either be or dream of becoming.

Atmosphere
When you enter the store, you can really feel the sense excitement in the atmosphere. You feel that there is something different with this store. Its a shop that is impossible to get bored. Full of bright colours, huge figures games and more are brand elements that we see in very few places or shops. However, the first impression makes you quickly realize that this shop is aimed at tourists and those with small children.

There are so many indirect associations that lie in what customers see, read, hear, think and feel. Starting with the dancing M&Ms and the happy employees who are welcoming the customers and keep a smile on many of the customers faces. The employees seem to adapt to the Londons international spirit due to their diverse ethnicity backgrounds and they tend to be happy, cheerful and helpful. They interact with prospects and customers to convey the personality of the brand and make sure that we enjoy the experience within the store at its maximum. This attention given by the employees and the dancing M&M characters, help customers perceive their experience as meaningful and likeable from the very first moment.

As mentioned above, the first floor aims at attracting tourists. London elements such as the London bus, the M&M British figures, the theatre associations as well as the merchandised products with the British colours determine the benefits that are most important to this segment. These people have come to London to see all its attractions and have fun and this is what the stores offers to them. It is worth mentioning that the graphics, the chocolate smell, the bright colours, the orientation element and any other imagery, instantly creates a collection of images to the customer not only for the visual sense but also of sensation and emotions. Customers clearly understand what M&M stands for, the personality it conveys and the promise the store makes to entertain them. This is what you also see when you go to pay. The cashiers promote the feeling of safety, fun and profit.The cashier are surrounded by visual elements that make them look like cinemas cashiers that sell entertainment to the customers; thus, making them feel less guilty of purchasing an expensive product.

In the upper floor, customers are exposed to Christmas M&M merchandized products. The store introduces Christmas relative products and collectives of high value, pinpointing more on creating strong and unique brand associations thus making customers feel the brand in their everyday life and at the same time increase their desire for purchase.

After having the first impressive approach within the store and its London atmosphere, customers move down to the second floor where they have the feeling that they can find everything! On the way down, someone can notice the history that has been depicted on the walls. The reason is that the store wants to orientate customers through a joyful journey in order to create a sense of exploration and adventure while customers move from one section to another.

Characters
In the second floor downstairs, customers feel that they can find anything they want or even dream. The floor is segmented in five different sections. Each one of the M&M characters has its own section within the store along with any merchandize products related or associated with the characters personality and style. It is worth mentioning that each character on this floor is dressed up with British elements. The red represents the guards from Buckingham Palace, the yellow represents the knights from Britains history, the orange is associated with Englands football reputation, the Green stands for the Queen and the Blue XXXX. By communicating distinct character personalities for each M&M, brand awareness is increased. Consumers begin to develop a relationship with the brand, as it becomes a staple product. The ongoing story of the Red, Yellow, Green, Orange and Blue characters allows consumers to increase their involvement in the brand. The character are those who deliver the core-growth for M&M and provide a fantastic way to generate great content which can be taken into all the marketing activities. Customers can easily see themselves through the eyes of the characters. They automatically identify elements of their personality and become more engage with them. Once they do that, it is very likely to proceed to purchases that will remind them of their favourite character and what they stand for. The role of the character besides making the entire experience entertaining is also fundamental for the customers to believe in what the characters believe and as a consequence believe in the brand itself. First, customers see the Red Character and the red section. The red character feels the need to continually remind consumers why he is so special and in his relationship with the other M&Ms characters he has a tendency to be scheming, attention-seeking and cunning. Red is the undoubted leader of the M&Ms pack. In addition to that, the red colour is considered to be the colour that triggers someones appetite which explains why the majority of the candies are located at this section. The chocolate smell is very intense and along with the variety of different M&Ms on sale, customers feel keen on buying some.

Then customers see the Yellow character and the yellow section. The slightly more hapless Yellow feels that as a peanut, it is his right to be loved for being just what he is. Yellow relies on Red to tell him exactly what to do and trusts him implicitly. Despite his hard shell and peanut and chocolate centre, Yellow is at heart a softie. The section merchandizes related or associated products with its personality and style.

Later on, customers go the Green section. The Green character has been smarter, more aggressive and quicker on her feet (even in her high-heeled boots which allow her to tower over Red) than her male counterparts. Ms. Green clashes with the strong-willed Red but feels maternal and protective towards Yellow. Her tagline is i melt for no one . All the products in that section target mainly women who feel or want to feel just as Ms.Green does : a pretty woman with a confident attitude.

The orange section is focused on sports merchandize. The orange character is the paranoid crispy M&M and its tagline is i am a dead man. All the products are mostly related to sports and is another example of how the customers can feel M&Ms in every aspect of their life such as sports.

In the last section of the second floor customer see the blue room with the Blue character driving a porche. He is the cool guy and his tagline is never let them see you melt. He's always entertaining and never does the same thing twice. He likes dark sun glasses, motorcycles, jazz music and hanging out with his friends. This section targets people who want to be different and as cool as the Blue M&M. There are merchandized products associated products with its personality and style.

Moving down to the last floor, customers can find merchandized products for their house as well as an M&M lab where they have the chance to see how M&Ms are produced. It is a great way to make people feel part of the entire process and enhance their sense of involvement with the brand. This floor targets peoples desire to buy a merchandized product for their home. This is the last stop of the "journey and people are already excited about what they have seen and felt. Therefore, it is very likely to buy an M&M product for their house.

Advertising and clear branding, through the use of characters and personalities such as Red and Yellow and by using them in everyday situations make product information search easy, and increases the chance that we will recognise and buy brands such as M&Ms. That said, we can see almost everywhere in the store a preference for the yellow and red M&M such as in the colours of the floors, the colours on the walls, on the bags, on the background of the cashiers and more. It is also known that red and yellow as colours themselves increase the appetite to eat more. See other examples of big fast food chains ( McDonalds, Burger King etc ) .

Conclusion
To work effectively, a global brand must communicate a cohesive image and message about core brand values to all its consumers. It must stand on an easily recognisable transnational platform but also operate efficiently in a distinctly local environment. M&Ms started out as a uniquely American phenomenon; its expansion onto a global stage and into London in particular has been characterised by impactful marketing and advertising, innovative product expansion and highly interactive promotions The M&M world, is purely allowing yourself to be a big kid, say wow at the fantastic displays, and get caught up with everyone else as we all enjoy chocolate and successful advertising. Everyone can be young at heart in this fabulous store. There is no pressure to buy and there are gifts for all price ranges so customers who pop in should let themselves have some fun. M&Ms World is mostly a merchandise store that happens to stock the candy flavours where possible! Its probably not a place for real chocolate lovers, and definitely not a recommended place to visit for those who suffer from migraines or anxiety related disorders. Nonetheless, the store brings M&Ms competitive advantage and value proposition to life and successfully creates a significance relationship between the brand and the customer. The experience provide in the M&M world, induces loyalty and simplifies the decision making by locating the brand in the minds of customers and maximizing the potential benefit to the firm. It clarifies the brand essence since it has discovered different needs for different group of people and has given a tangible value to the brand and its merchandized products.