HACKETTSTOWN, N.J. -- Mars Chocolate North America has announced that it is offering retailers more planning tools to help them develop their marketing strategies and invigorate chocolate sales. The new resources include the 2014 Moments Calendar Video, Year-Long Display Programs, a Convenience Channel 2014 Planning Toolkit, a revamped Mars24seven.com and the Performance Plus Rewards Program.
"We're making it easy for our retail partners to create marketing and merchandising programs that will grow the chocolate category," said Rick LaBerge, vice president of sales for Mars Chocolate North America. "Mars' global research shows that retailers can capture the under developed 'sharing occasions' in the U.S. market. Here in the United States, chocolate is part of only 10% of sharing occasions, while other countries incorporate chocolate into more social activities."
To encourage consumers to nurture relationships with friends and family, Mars will focus on six promotional periods in 2014:
- Snickers brand Super Bowl satisfaction.
- "Share Your Favorites" campaign.
- Win the M-Ball with M&M's brand.
- Summer movie moment.
- Snickers brand NFL game day satisfaction.
- Share the joy during the holidays.
The first-of-its-kind Mars 2014 Moments Calendar Video illustrates these six promotional periods. The engaging video energizes retailers with details of each program, including key dates and display options.
In addition to the six promotions, Mars' Year-Long Display Programs will help retailers capture the 83% of unplanned confectionery purchases. The themes are:
- Share Your Favorites: Featuring the iconic M&M's Characters, this program supports the core brands, including M&M's, Snickers, Twix and Milky Way brands.
- Fueling Up Satisfaction: Snickers brand offers consumers a chance to win free gas cards and Snickers bars.
- Powerful Support for Peanut: M&M's brand will highlight the popular peanut variant with a fully integrated 360-degree campaign.
Another key planning tool, the inaugural 2014 Convenience Store Toolkit, enables c-store buyers to review shopper marketing and point-of-purchase/point-of-sale (POP/POS) content for each Mars program. Available in a convenient PDF format, the Toolkit includes Mars advertising and consumer promotions, convenience channel display hotspots, new items, a c-store calendar and monthly highlights.
A counterpart to the C-store Toolkit is Mars24seven.com, which has everything c-store operators need to create and maintain a thriving candy aisle. The recently enhanced site includes shopper insights, merchandising options, trends and product photos.
C-stores that incorporate Mars displays into their merchandising strategies can benefit from incentives in the Performance Plus Rewards Program. Buyers can contact their Mars Chocolate representative for details and incentives.
Mars Chocolate North America, Hackettstown, N.J., is the North American chocolate operations of Mars Inc. Based in McLean, Va., Mars Inc. has net sales of more than $30 billion and six business segments including Petcare, Chocolate, Wrigley, Food, Drinks and Symbioscience.
Mars brands include Chocolate: M&M's, Snickers, Dove, Galaxy, Mars, Milky Way and Twix; Petcare: Pedigree, Whiskas, Sheba, Cesar and Royal Canin; Wrigley: Orbit, Extra, Starburst, Doublemint and Skittles; Food: Uncle Ben's, Dolmio, Ebly, Masterfoods and Seeds of Change; Drinks: Alterra Coffee Roasters, The Bright Tea Co., Klix and Flavia; and Symbioscience: Seramis, Cirku and Cocoavia.
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