Brand Evaluation on M&M's in the US
M&M’s Company is a privately owned international organization which deals with many candy products which have gained a good brand name throughout the world. Some of the mostly dealt with brands are the Mars Petcare, Mars Chocolate based in the U.S, Mars food in Brussels, Wrigley in Chicago, Mars Drinks in the U.S and U.K, Mars Symbioscience in U.S among other brands. The company is well known for its chocolates and candy products which have become very well known in the market (Perrey & Spillecke, 2013). M&M’s brand is effective and it has the ability of reaching its target audience (Chitty, 2011). However, M&M’s have in the recent past faced challenges and hindrances for the success of its marketing. Firstly, the competitive brands, as well as social media's initiated a campaign against the consumption of candy and candy products citing health effects. The media and the competitors argued that the use of candy products increases health issues including cancer-related problems (Chitty, 2011). Secondly, changes in the marketing platforms with the high-tech customers requiring the change in the methods of marketing was also a challenge. M&M’s was therefore supposed to develop marketing strategies which would have preserved the tarnished brand name while ensuring access to the customers and audiences.
Brand Overall and Ability to Reach Target Audience
Through its marketing and branding strategies, M&M's reached the iconic status of its operations and in creating the brand name for its products. The company was able to create better relations and loyalty with the customer (Chitty, 2011). The company through its promotion strategies also created awareness and later conviction to its customers in the worldwide market. The company has also been able to expand its operations through expansion and diversification of its operations. In line with that, M&M's at one point moved from just candy to snacks which would be used as meals. For example, the M&M's chocolate candies were honored as the official snack food during the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. These are among the strategies and achievements derived from the marketing of the brands.
M&M's dealt concentrated has concentrated on the successful incorporation of the 4Ps of marketing which are the price, product, place, and promotion. Through the 4Ps of marketing, M&M's created a strategy which ensured the accessibility of the customers (Perrey & Spillecke, 2013). It ensures that customers can get the products conveniently at the right price and the right place where needed. M&M’s company have been able to reach its target customers through promotions campaigns of the brand (Chitty, 2011). The company went ahead to advertise the products through sports to ensure that the tarnished brand name would be corrected through the assurance of the fitness. More so, the company uses many retail channels to ensure that the loyal customers can get the products at their convenience when required. The company has also diversified the candy products through added products of sweets and more flavors of chocolate (Chitty, 2011). The company has therefore capitalized on preserving the brand name in all the events.
Reasons Necessitating the Change
With the changing environment and the ever dynamic market of its products, it was necessary for the M&M’s company to change its operation strategies. The technological advancement of the information passage and the movement of the proprietary audience to the high-tech social media forced the company to adopt the internet marketing (Rohrs, 2014). M&M’s also included brand merchandise and brand characters as well as promotions in support of the health campaigns in response to the aggression of the competitors and social media attempt to warn against its products (Chitty, 2011). Increases the retail channels was also necessary as a strategy of reaching to the target market which remained loyal to the brand. Other changes which were necessary for such a period included creating a brand personality, change in the advertisement to exempt children from the advertisement target, creating mini brands and brand personalization.
Target Audience and the Purpose of Branding
Mars chocolate and the cream candy is one of the main products of M&M’s whose target market are the young adults. These people are known to look for chocolate and cream for entertainment purposes. Exposure of the chocolate to these group of individuals at the social media creates a perception of the need to use the product (Perrey & Spillecke, 2013). Continuous advertisement leads to comprehension of the information attained about the product which can constantly be retrieved arousing the need and the decision to use the product. Advertising and the social media promotions lead to more information to this target group which uses the internet during the better part of the day and is also influenced by what they see in the social media (Rohrs, 2014).
Mars food and drinks are another brands with which M&M's Company is known. The target customers for the products are the working class individuals with medium and high income. These individuals mainly look for ready food products which they can use either as meals or as refreshments during talks and meeting. The main strategy used by M&M's Company to ensure the continuous sale of these products is to give ample information and conviction of what they offer while communicating the locality of outlets where these products can be found. The MarCom Theory calls for continuous and effective marketing communication giving information about the products (Chitty, 2011). It requires that advertisement and other marketing strategies should be able to give the necessary information about the product to create central knowledge about the products for informed decision making (Rohrs, 2014). All the advertising methods used should focus on giving full information about a product and the use of M&M’s products.
Recommendations
Marketing of M&M’s products is important for the competitive existence of the company. To ensure sustained benefits and existence in the highly competitive market, the company should consider the following recommendations.
Firstly, M&M’s should improve on the availability of many products in one region. The company must ensure that all the products it deals in are available to the customers in all the regions of the world. Through differentiation is necessary, the company should ensure that all the products marketed on the internet are available to the customers who get the information about them.
Secondly, the company should operate a comprehensive marketing strategies in reaching to the audience and the proprietary audience. It should not depend on the internet alone as many of its customers may at times lack access to the internet. It is important therefore that the company considers other means of communication, advertising, and marketing. The methods used should also ensure that the information is constantly relayed to the customers to enhance their choice of the products.
Lastly, M&M's Company need to focus on health products which focus on quality and the ability to promote the health life of the customers. Products promoting health diseases may tarnish the name the company and hence affect the performance of all the products. Restoring the brand name can, however, be done through advertisement and brand promotion through the social media.
References
Chitty, W. (2011). Integrated marketing communication. South Melbourne, Vic: Cengage Learning.
Perrey, J., & Spillecke, D. (2013). Retail marketing and branding: A definitive guide to maximizing ROI. Chichester: Wiley.
Rohrs, J. K. (2014). Audience: Marketing in the age of subscribers, fans & followers. New York: Wiley & Sons.
