ABSTRACT

Snickers, the well-known chocolate bar,

has recently witnessed drastic changes
in its marketing and positioning
strategies. This has happened thorough
numerous TV commercials and massive
social media campaigns. In the following
report, these strategies adopted by
Snickers have been studied and
analysed in detail.

SNICKERS
Study on Product and Consumer Behaviour

Aditi Yadav
Venu Madhav
Nivedita Patnaik
Rushikesh Thakkar
Swati Singh

ABM10037
PGP29360
PGP29355
PGP29350
PGP29361

The Snickers Product

Snickers is a candy bar made of peanuts, caramel and chocolates, owned by Mars
Incorporated. The brand derives its name from one of the favourite horses owned by the Mars
family. Salient features of the product
A normal Snickers bar gives energy equivalent to 276 kcal. Globally it is positioned as
a snack rather than chocolate. The same positioning has been adopted in India.
Mars India was set up in 2004 as a subsidiary of Mars Inc. It spreads over other
South East Asian countries Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
Product line of Mars includes Mars, Milky Way, M&M, and Snickers etc.
Recently, Snickers has launched Snickers Green Dot, vegetarian Snickers in India to
cater to the Indian consumers. It will be available in two pack sizes (32g & 54g). The
company claims that there has been no change in taste, and its nutritional value has
been kept intact.
A certain set of consumers still believe it to be a chocolate, while another section
who think of it as an energy bar have it only when they are hungry. Following charts
show the correlation between the different sets of consumers.

You are running late for work and you are

hungry. Which one will you pick?
23

12
6
Burger/ Sandwich /
Wraps

Chips / Cookies

Chocolate / Energy bar

Figure 1 Consumers preference for a quick bite

What is your perception of Snickers?

17

14
8
2

ENERGY BAR, I
IT'S ONLY A
WON'T HAVE IT CHOCOLATE!!
UNLESS I AM
HUNGRY

LUXURY /
IMPORTED
BRAND LIKE
HERSHEYS ETC

SIMILAR TO
DAIRY MILK

Figure 2 Perception of the product Snickers by consumers

Snickers Green Dot The Vegetarian Variant

The product is composed of nuts, caramel, milk chocolate and nougat. It is currently
manufactured and imported from UAE.
The new Snickers Green Dot is especially launched for the vegetarian population of
India that stands at approximately 20%-42% of the entire population (based on FAO
survey).
The launch is in line with their business objective of growing Snickers range in India
an innovative step forward as part of growth strategy in India.

Product

Promotion

Peanut based candy bar

Energy content - 276 cal
/54g bar
Launched, Snickers Green
Dot, a vegetarian variant
Worlds largest selling
candy bar

Minimum advertising Tried to leverage global

brand equity in 2004
International ad campaign
adopted in the year 2012
Placed in stores alongside
market leader, Cadburys
Dairy Milk

Price

Placement

Price of 25gm candy bar

reduced from Rs 25 to Rs
15
Price of 50gm bar reduced
from Rs 45 to Rs 30

Product availability in
shopping malls until 2012
Scaled up distribution
network in 2012 to include
kirana stores
Greater market
penetration

Figure 3 4Ps of Marketing Mix for Snickers

Placement
The Indian chocolate market estimated at around Rs 3,000 crore is expected to grow at 15%
in the year 2013. According to a report by TechSci Research, the chocolate market in India is
expected to grow at about 20 percent and become Rs 19,200 crore by 2018. The product placement
saw the following changes take effect in the subsequent years after its launch
Availability of Snickers was confined to malls and high end outlets little over a year
At that time it was majorly positioned as a luxury brand and perceived as an imported
chocolate for high income consumer
Post 2012 some major changes took place in their marketing and positioning strategies

The distribution channel of the product has expanded. Local dealers and grocery store
owners were selling the product alongside the familiar Cadburys Dairy Milk

Promotion / Placement
The visibility of the product has increased due to the aggressive promotional activities via
billboards, posters, television, Facebook groups and product placement at all local grocery,
confectionary stores. They are also planning to launch an app coming for android and iPhone users
soon. This has been elaborated in the section Evolution of Snickers Advertising in India.

Evolution of Snickers Advertising in India

Unlike some global brands that follow a different marketing mix for launching the product in
India compared to launching it globally, Snickers followed no such strategy during its launch.

Essence of the Global Snickers Campaign

The objective was to make people think about Snickers when out and about. The solution
was to tap into one of basic and the most powerful requirement of mankind, hunger. Snickers
decided to tap between-the-meals hunger of its potential market which included everyone above
the age of 13. The following situations in their global television campaigns very aptly convey the
message
Moments when people feel irritable, bad tempered, and hunger aggravates that
irritation
Snickers brand was positioned as a one stop solution to this hunger. Thus, any time one
feels angry or irritable because of hunger, grab a Snickers instantly.
A key issue with the campaign was that one is unlikely to face such moments while
watching a TV. It is more likely to happen when one is out with friends, travelling or at
work.
Therefore a perception had to be built wherein Snickers had to own those "You're not
you when you're hungry" moments. The Facebook fan page very cleverly capitalizes on
that by placing the Snickers bar next to everyday such as a work station, a book shelf.

Early Launch in India (2004)

Snickers first made its foray in India in 2004 as an imported product. The $3.6bn candy bar,
owned by Mars International and imported by Mars India along with Mars, Galaxy, Milky Way, Twix
etc in its product line. Advertising was sparse and they relied on global brand equity (Snickers is the
largest selling candy bar in the world) for sales in India as well. Likewise distribution was narrow.

First Campaigns (2008 2012)

The product was first advertised in 2008 and revamped later in 2012, the former tagline
being Hunger bajaye char, Snickers khol yaar. This campaign turned out to be a slow starter for
sales in India. The reason was the high price point owing to high import duties and the resulting
perception of the candy bar as a luxury commodity.
Conclusion Price point should be right, distribution should be rectified.
Unless Snickers makes a dent at the price point of its competitors, it will always remain as an
exported product. Mars Intl India understood this and that if they wanted to make a dig in the
Indian market and start manufacturing in India, they had to address the price and distribution of
Snickers in India.
4

Indian Adoption of Global Campaign (2012 2013)

With continued efforts at positioning itself as the preferred between-the-meals snack,
Snickers launched an Indian adaptation of its international campaign. The English tagline (you're not
you, when you're hungry) becomes 'Hunger Achhe Achhon Ko Badal Deta Hai', and iconic Bollywood
diva Rekha replaces the many renowned Hollywood actors Snickers has previously featured. The
advertisement shows how a big bite of Snickers turns the cricketer back to an energetic and
agreeable man from an irritable diva Rekha.
To supplement the TV commercials, Snickers has a very active Facebook fan page (over
1.3mn fans and 8,500+ users tagging the product on a daily basis) only for Indian consumers and
evokes the culture, personal factors with posts related to the youth It tell a joke day, friendship
day; events having significance to Indians Independence day and festive occasions.
Other active promotional strategies, social campaigns, online gaming, on ground activities,
initiated by the company are summarized below
On-ground activities for communication to drive awareness
Gaming has been used as an integral part of its communication plan
Effective personal interaction with customers facilitated through word of mouth
publicity when consumers share experiences via discussion in person or social media
website
Massive online and on-ground campaign using technology has been instrumental in
creating excitement around the launch of the all new vegetarian Snickers
Active campaigns to attract consumers conducted at tier-2 cities as well.
First campaign flagged off in Ahmedabad and subsequently to cover Surat, Jaipur
and other tier II cities.
Gaming zone set up by Snickers at a well-known shopping centre in Ahmedabad

Consumer Buying Behaviour

A consumer behaviour survey was conducted to understand the marketing and
environmental stimuli resulting in the ultimate purchasing decision. The responses were analyzed
using the stimulus response model as shown in the figure. The demography targeted was in the
age group of 18 to 25, since a good percentage of consumers belonged to that category as per the
Mars market research survey results summarized in the appendix.

Consumer
Psychology
Consumer
Characteristics

Stimuli

Buying
Decision
Process
Figure 4 Stimuli - Response Analysis of Snickers

Stimuli
The stimulus for having a chocolate was divided into 5 broad groups, their distribution given
in the chart.

Main reason for buying a chocolate ?

13

12

9
4

3
CONVENIENT
SNACK

HEALTH /
NUTRITIONAL
VALUE

INDULGE IN A
CRAVING

ON IMPULSE

OUT OF HABIT

Figure 5 Purpose to buy a chocolate

Social factor was dominant in recognition of the product Snickers as majority came to first
hear of the product from friends / relatives
How did you first know about Snickers?
Overseas visit
5% 10%
From friends/ relatives
27%

58%

TV ad featuring yesteryear
actress Rekha
I haven't heard of it !!

Figure 6 Information about the product

Perception of the product Perceived as an energy bar to be consumed when hungry

indicating a success of the active campaigning by Mars (Mapped in Figure 2)

Consumer Psychology
Quick replacement for a snack driving factors are hunger and running short on time (Refer
Figure 1)
The personal factors that facilitated sales of chocolates were also the inherent need to
indulge in a craving for chocolates, succumbing to being an impulse buyer or just out of
habit. Few considered chocolate having a nutritional value or as a convenient snack.

Consumer Characteristics
Consumers differentiated between the different types of chocolates that they can purchase
from the market (response in graph below)

What kind of chocolates do you like?

12%

Caramel chocolate

44%

Milk chocolate

20%

Dark chocolate
Chocolate with nuts

24%

Figure 7 Preference for type of chocolate

The frequency with which one would purchase a Snickers bar

Frequency of purchasing Snickers

5%

Once in a while, when I

am looking for a change

10%

Never ! I dislike Snickers

24%

Can't have, am a strict

vegeterian

61%

Almost daily, I love

Snickers
Figure 8 Frequency of purchasing a Snicker bar

Consumer Behaviour Survey Qualitative Analysis

The most interesting insight was received from respondents who loved to have Snickers and
consumed on a daily basis. The irony was that they became aware of Snickers only a year
ago, even though Mars Inc launched Snickers way back in 2004

When did you first hear about

Snickers?
Past 6Last
months
- 1 year
6 mths
1 ago
year

2 years
More Past
than 1
a year
ago
Last66months
months
Last
0

10

15

20

Figure 9The first time one came to know about Snickers

25

30

 Most respondents, who didnt consume Snickers because it had egg as a chief ingredient, are
still unaware of the new Green Dot
Some consumers showed a brand loyalty towards the market leader in chocolates Cadbury
and hence over a period of time preferred to have a Dairy Milk or 5-Star over Snickers

Recommendations
Snickers can look forward to targeting the segment that prefers dark chocolate (24% of the
respondents, who seemed favourable to try the Snickers Dark chocolate variant)
The Snickers Product line in international markets features includes Snickers Peanut butter,
unwrapped bite, Snickers Almond, Snickers Ice cream, Snickers Dark chocolate, Snickers
miniature.
Once Snickers starts production in India, it can increase the consumer base with the reduced
price (achieve reduction in import duty by 30% on average)
Given the high energy content that can be derived from an average Snicker bar (~276 kcal
54gm), sportspersons, adventure sport enthusiasts can use a high energy variant of Snickers.
There is a specific variant existing globally known as Snickers Marathon bar.

Appendix
Research studies by Mars International Inc.
Figures from Mars International India show 29% of people eating chocolate in the country
are 13-19 year olds, while 23% were 20-25 years old, a total hitting 19% for 26-30 year olds and 30%
for 30-40 year olds. Also, as a marketing code of conduct, Mars Inc. has stated that it does not direct
any of its ads for the children less than 12 years of age. The company's research also found that 24%
ate a bar of chocolate for relaxation. Hunger posted 23% on this measure, the same score as
sharing, and ahead of rejuvenation on 14% and indulgence on 11%.
Below is a pie chart

Which group do you belong to?

College student

32%
5%

just started working

63%
Working professional for
more than a year

Figure 10 Survey respondents - Income and age classification