M&M’S® Brand SHREK2™ “Ogre-Size” Candies

Product Service Category M&M’S® Brand Chocolate Candies are the #1 Candy Brand in the United States, and #1 Globally.   Marketing Overview M&M’S® Chocolate Candies are sold just about everywhere, in nearly every retail outlet and in most vending machines across the country and abroad. In our high-tech culture, this simple 60-year-old product fights diligently to stay cool, contemporary and relevant to consumers in the 21st century.  Moreover, this Brand faces incessant challenges from competitive brands as well as social pressures encouraging consumers to reduce candy consumption.  The business challenge facing this brand is simple - how can the M&M’S® Brand remain relevant to consumers and continue to grow? Promotion Objectives Objectives: Grow consumer interest and involvement to grow the franchise. Stimulate $20,000,000 in incremental sales within 8-week promotional window.  Obtain 4 weeks of merchandising trade support. These objectives are very aggressive in a category of slow to moderate annual growth. Promotional Strategy and Tactics Strategy Leverage the compelling equities of color and fun to create consumer interest.  (Price incentives were not a key driver.) Enhance the consumer experience of “colorful chocolate fun”.  Use elements of DISCOVERY, INTERACTION and FUN to drive purchase. Leverage an Entertainment Property to deepen the relationship between the Brand and Consumers. Tactics:  Partner with DreamWorks’ blockbuster movie, SHREK2™. M&M’S® Brand uniquely celebrated this exciting sequel by offering innovative OGRE-SIZE M&M’S® Candies (nearly 50% larger than everyday M&M’S®).   Plus, M&M’S® Candies were made in Special SHREK® Colors. M&M’S® Brand Characters were shown on pack and at the point of purchase as “OGRE-IZED M&M’S® Characters”.  This demonstrates a truly unique and creative approach to marketing two major equity partners. M&M’S® MINIS® Chocolate Candies were made available in “PRETTY COLORS” (like the lovely Princess Fiona) or in “SWAMPY COLORS” just the way SHREK likes them.  Half the fun for kids was discovering the color of the candies in their bag or tube. SHREK 2™ Toy Novelties were offered in special M&M’S® MINIS® TOY & POGO™ Dispensers as well as Licensed toys and collectibles. Special packaging and displays for M&M’S® Chocolate Candies and M&M’S® MINIS® Chocolate Candies were used to stimulate consumer excitement and drive offtake. Other support included: Promotional Advertising: 621 GRPs for TV and 75 GRPs for Print Web based fun and games on mms.com. PR Customer specific Co-Marketing initiatives Results The M&M’S® Shrek 2™ promotion delivered OGRE-SIZED results: Achieved $21.33 million in incremental wholesale sales (3.5% above plan). Drove 9.7% Brand dollar growth vs. 2003  (5% above category sales). Received 6.2 weeks of merchandising support (2.2 weeks over plan.) SHREK2™ TV Ad was a hit with consumers scoring 159 (well above average of 70 to 130). Generated 61 million PR impressions (8% above plan). Summary At its core, this M&M’S® Brand promotion is all about brand building.  Generally speaking, price incentives can deliver increased sales.  But, rather than discounting, M&M’S® promotions choose to grow the brand by creating deeper relationships between consumers and the brand. The fundamental essence of the M&M’S® Brand is “colorful chocolate fun”.  The 2004 Shrek2™ Promotion is the epitome of colorful chocolate fun.  Candies weren’t just bigger; they were OGRE-SIZED! Candies weren’t in everyday colors; they were in SHREK2™ Colors reflecting the cinematic palette of the movie. M&M’S® Characters weren’t just interacting with SHREK; they absorbed the SHREK equities - reflecting the magical transformation theme of the movie. Packaging didn’t just show SHREK®; packs “told a little story” to engage and entertain consumers. Keys to Success: One of the key measures of success is the way the M&M’S® Brand approached this promotion.  Unlike most movie tie-ins, this promotion merged two mega properties, M&M’S® Brand and SHREK® in a very unique and captivating way.  M&M’S® Brand became OGRE-IZED!  They were not TWO entities, but rather a hybrid that proved to be a huge success with consumers. Integration among all the marketing disciplines was also a critical factor in the success of the program. Advertising stimulated awareness and drove consumers to retail. Co-Marketing programs reached consumers in key retail stores with special displays and retail-tainment events in Wal-Mart, and other key retailers. Packaging and Product fulfilled consumer expectations and the result was the successful achievement of our goals and sales of more than $21 million! THIS WAS AN OGRE-WHELMING SUCCESS!!!