Could M&M's Be Having a "New Coke" Moment?
We were on this story well before the New York Times, who wrote yesterday about the new M&Ms Premiums, the fact that they have no shell, and the new ad campaign that goes with it. Here are some of the points from the article that caught my eye:
""Even just seeing one color of an M&M helps say, ooh that's something different," said Susan Credle, executive creative director at BBDO New York, which handles M&M's advertising.""
Spoken like a true ad executive...looking for the ooh instead of the happy customer.
""We found that premium chocolate lovers want the smooth, creamy taste to be the first thing they taste in a chocolate product, so the smooth shell of M&M's Premiums enables them to taste the chocolate first," said Michele Kessler, vice president for marketing at Mars Snackfood."
Hellooo...premium chocolate lovers aren't buying M&Ms for that purpose. We/They buy M&Ms for the...wait for it...wait for it...taste and texture of an M&M!
"The Mars research and development team came up with a new manufacturing technique to make the shell, she said. And some ingredients are different, so the candy can accept the shimmering finishes and exotic flavors."
"Ms. Kessler said she was not concerned about moving too far from the main M&M's product."
"They're still lentils, they still have the 'M' on them," she said. "They're certainly colorful in a different way, but in a more premium way that reinforces what the product brings."
Ask Coca-Cola how depending on market researchers and agencies worked out for them when they launched New Coke.
From NYT, Mars Takes M&M's Out of Their Shell
Read More in: M&M/Mars
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Posted by Bob Wallace at August 8, 2008 4:27 PM
However, remember that New Coke replaced Classic Coke. (And really it was just a way to replace cane sugar with high fructose corn sweetener, then if it didn't work out, as they had already planned for, reintroduce the "old" version but with the cheaper sweetener.)
M&Ms will continue to be available. And as has been pointed out in the article about Mega M&Ms, they may just go away on their own. Mars has more abandoned products than current ones.
That's a really good point about New Coke, you're right. Although not well articulated, my point was more that Coke's research told them that changing the flavor wouldn't hurt the brand. They figured they could steal Pepsi consumers b/c it was sweeter. They didn't factor in the revolt from the existing Coke fans. Same general idea with this, they are hoping to cut into the premium market, but may (who knows) underestimate any negative reaction from the existing fans. We'll see. Thanks for the comment though.
M&M'S would never replace their bread and butter milk and peanut products. That would be suicidal. If existing M&M'S fans don't like the new product, they can always stick with their favorite standbys. The difference is that Coke never gave their consumers a chance to decide. And the PP was right, the whole idea may go away after a while. Would never know unless they tried, right?
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