Copying the strategy of the Hershey Co., its archrival Mars has introduced a bite-size Snickers, which it will begin promoting on Monday through advertising and social media.
Mars began distributing the new product, Snickers Bites, in May. It is a bite-size, unwrapped cube of Snickers, sold in a 2.83-ounce bag and an 8-ounce resealable pouch, which is meant to be shared. Suggested retail prices are $1.49 and $2.99.
Snickers Bites is the first new Snickers product introduced by Mars since it began selling Snickers Peanut Butter Squares in 2011; Mars has been selling the original Snickers candy bar, which it created, since 1930. Mars introduced Milky Way Bites in May, in packaging similar to that of Snickers Bites.
Matthew Hudak, who follows the candy industry for Euromonitor International, a market research company, said Mars was copying Hershey’s introduction of miniature, unwrapped versions of its candies, which began in 2011. These include bite-size Hershey’s Milk Chocolate and Cookies ‘n’ Creme Drops, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Rolo and Kit Kat candies, with pouch packaging Mars also has copied.
Jeff Beckman, a spokesman for Hershey, said the company “realized that consumers didn’t want to go through unwrapping and they also wanted to be able to reseal the bag.” He said miniature candies have become a “broad line” that Hershey would continue to expand.
These candies are “trending a lot more with younger consumers, who like the ease of eating more convenient snacks,” Hudak said. “They grew up in households where both parents were working, and they had no one at home, so snacking became more common.”
Younger consumers are “more into the convenience factor; no one is more impatient than a young person,” he said. “And they seem to like to hang out in larger groups, and have more party occasions.”
Harry Balzer, chief food industry analyst for the NPD Group, a consulting company, suggested that the candies also matched the eating patterns of Americans, who he said “still have a sweet tooth, but do not satisfy it as often, or satisfy it with portion control.”
According to Euromonitor International, Snickers is Mars’ best-selling candy bar. It estimated that Mars sold $1.3 billion worth of Snickers products in the United States in 2012, out of a total of $2.7 billion worth of Snickers sales globally, an increase of 2.5 percent and 3.7 percent over 2011.
It estimated that sales of all Mars chocolate products in the United States last year totaled $4.9 billion, an increase of 3.5 percent over 2011. It also estimated that in 2012, sales of all Hershey chocolate products in the United States were $5.9 billion, an increase of 3.5 percent over 2011.
As it has done with most advertising starting with the 2010 Super Bowl, Mars is using the “You’re not you when you’re hungry” theme - created by the New York office of BBDO, part of the Omnicom Group — to promote Snickers Bites. Previous advertising has featured celebrities like Betty White, Aretha Franklin, Don Rickles and Robin Williams, who behave badly until they eat a Snickers, which turns them back into their regular selves.
A new spot, in 15- and 30-second versions, shows a group of casually dressed young men sitting at a table playing cards and telling jokes. One asks another, Jake, to tell a story. Also at the table is Kenny Gorelick, the smooth jazz musician known as Kenny G, who plays a soothing tune on his saxophone.
A second young man tells Kenny G — whom he calls Jake — that his story is “horrible,” while the first offers him some Snickers Bites and asks if he feels better. Kenny G is then transformed into Jake, who says he is all right. The voice-over concludes: “You’re not you when you’re hungry. Try new Snickers Bites.”
The shorter spot will begin running on Monday on broadcast and cable networks like CBS, NBC, Bravo and Comedy Central, while the 30-second version will run on Snickers’ Facebook page and YouTube channel, and on sites like MSN.com and MTV.com.
July issues of People and Entertainment Weekly will carry a 1-1/2-page spread that says Snickers Bites are “like Snickers had babies.” A photo of Kenny G whose caption says, “Used ‘LOL’ out loud? Eat a Snickers,” has been created for Snickers Bites’ Facebook page.
David Lubars, chairman and chief creative officer of BBDO North America, said the new advertising was meant for all candy consumers and particularly men in their 20s, who “like Snickers in different combinations and different formats.”
Describing Kenny G as a player of “grandma music,” Lubars said the musician was selected for the new campaign because “he’s not a hip, young guy.” Kenny G “loves to make fun of himself and knows that isn’t his image,” Lubars said.
Roy Benin, chief consumer officer of Mars Chocolate North America, said the company was introducing and promoting Snickers Bites now because it wanted “to have significant news in the back half of the calendar year.”
Hudak suggested Mars was acting now so consumers would remember Snickers Bites during the Halloween candy-buying season.
Larry Finkel, director of food and beverage research for MarketResearch.com, said he did not see the connection between Kenny G and the young male audience Mars probably wanted to reach. Hudak agreed.
“It’s hard to think how many young men will know who Kenny G is,” he said. “It works for those in their mid-to late 20s, but they will probably start to lose” younger people.
Benin declined to quantify what Mars will spend on the new ad campaign for Snickers Bites, which will run into next year.
According to Kantar Media, Mars’s advertising expenditures for all Snickers products ranged from $32.8 million in 2008 to $86.8 million last year. It also said Mars’ spending on Snickers advertising jumped from $14.8 million in the first quarter of 2012 to $18 million in the same period this year.
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