Cult brand M&M'S announces global commitment to a world where everyone feels they belong
Iconic brand launches global platform to empower tens of millions of people's sense of belonging by 2025, helping them connect and have fun together
M&M'S, a brand from the Mars, Incorporated portfolio, announces its global commitment to creating a world where everyone feels they belong. The new brand purpose will further advocate for a diverse and inclusive society.
Mars
For more than 80 years, M&M'S has been bringing people together through the shared fun of chocolate nibbles. The evolution of the brand strategy aims to harness the power of fun to include everyone. The brand's goal: to increase the sense of belonging for 10 million people around the world by 2025.
"M&M'S has long been committed to creating colorful fun for all. The new brand purpose serves as a more concrete commitment to what we have always believed as a brand: everyone*s right to enjoy moments of happiness, and fun is the most powerful way to make people feel like they belong," said Cathryn Sleight, chief growth officer at Mars Wrigley. "Who better to advocate for a world with more shared moments of happiness by strengthening a sense of belonging around the globe than M&M'S, one of the world's most iconic candy brands?"
Studies1 show that the desire to belong is as strong as the desire to be loved. This desire to belong is common to all people, regardless of culture, race, ethnicity, geography, or where they live or reside. Based on these insights, the brand developed the M&M'S FUNd to actively pursue its mission. In addition to financial support, it's about providing resources, opportunities and mentoring in the arts and entertainment. This is to ensure that many people have access to experiences where everyone* feels they belong. In Germany, there will be a major brand activation around the new M&M'S Purpose already this year.
M&M'S fans will also see changes in the look and feel of the brand to reflect the new commitment:
- A fresh, modern look for the popular M&M'S characters. These have been given more nuanced personalities to emphasize the importance of self-expression and the power of community through storytelling
- An increased focus on the brand's iconic color palette and the use of different shapes and sizes of M&M'S lenses to represent that we can all have more fun together
- An added emphasis on the ampersand - a signature element in the M&M'S logo that serves to connect the two Ms. This is meant to show that the brand wants to bring people together
- A modern language that is more inclusive, welcoming and unifying, while remaining rooted in the M&M'S brand's signature wit and humor
"We are excited to unveil our new M&M'S brand identity, which fans will bring to life at all brand touchpoints around the globe," said Jane Hwang, global marketing vice president, Mars Wrigley. "From product innovations to brand campaigns, our evolved characters and our experiential stores, we will incorporate colorful imagery, inclusive messaging and our Purpose into everything. It's our way of showing that we're all having more fun together. You can already see and experience the new Purpose in our Berlin M&M'S store."
M&M'S' global commitment is just one of many actions Mars, Incorporated is taking toward a diverse and inclusive society. These include a commitment to gender-equal leadership teams, conducting an independent annual diversity audit of Mars advertising (conducted by the Geena Davis Institute) and serving as chair of the Unstereotype Alliance, part of UN Women.
For more information on the new M&M'S Brand Purpose, visit Facebook, Instagram or MMS.com.
Sources:
[1] Maslow and the Motivation Hierarchy: Measuring Satisfaction of the Needs; Coqual: The Power of Belonging.
Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.
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