Dive Brief:
- Mars Chocolate North America is debuting Snickers Crisper, which contains less than 200 calories per serving, the first Snickers bar with that few calories.
- As part of the launch, Snickers has also introduced a fully integrated marketing campaign. Two of these ads ran for the first time during the Golden Globes earlier this week.
- In the ads, combos of characteristics — like "confoolish" for confused and foolish — describe people who are hungry and have landed in awkward situations.
Dive Insight:
As consumers look for more snacks to suit their active lifestyles, confectionery companies like Mars have developed new ways to satisfy sweet cravings, from on-the-go packaging to new flavors and textures. With this new lower-calorie option, Mars is also appealing to consumers who want to indulge — but feel a little less guilty.
Mars made another push for the Snickers brand last year with its "Hunger Bars" campaign that featured words describing bad moods people might be in when hungry.
Snickers is also starting to gather and analyze first-party behavioral data on moods to test messaging that targets consumers who impulsively buy snack products based on their mood, which the brand will use to inform future ad campaigns.