'We want Snickers & Galaxy to grow in double-digits'

The leading manufacturer of chocolate, chewing gum, mints, and fruity confections, Mars Wrigley entered India in 2004 and since then the company has sweetened the Indian palate with mid-teen growth led by its focus brands Snickers, the nougat chocolate bar with caramel and peanuts, the premium chocolate bar, Galaxy and chewing gum brand, Boomer. Nikhil Rao, Chief Marketing Officer, Mars Wrigley India, says, “The last five years have been excellent for Mars Wrigley in India. We have been going from strength to strength, growing at a CAGR level in the mid-teens, between 13% to 15%, led by key brands. Snickers and Galaxy have been growing at high double digits. Boomer, too, has led this growth. This first quarter of this year has been good with high double-digit growth.”

"You're not you when you're hungry"

For its first campaign in India, Mars Wrigley used its tried and tested global positioning, "You're Not You When You're Hungry," first launched in the US and then replicated in multiple markets, including India. For the Indian versions, the company localised its advertising and used actors Sonam Kapoor, Rekha, Urmila Matondkar, cricketer MS Dhoni, and director Rohit Shetty. Rao highlights that Snickers’ definite positioning helps it own the hunger and snacking space among chocolates. He says, “In India, we have taken the insight locally and made it relevant for Indians, not just by using local celebrities and adopting the tagline in Hindi, ‘Hunger Achhe achhon ko badal deta hai,’ but also by looking at the right occasions.” For Snickers, targeted to the youth, the celebrity associations are determined by the script and who would fit the right character in the hangry mode. He adds, “While in the West, Snickers ads have been with relation to American Football or NFL, or Mr. Bean and the Ninjas, in India, we have brought occasions which are relevant to Indians. For example, Dhoni in the locker room, when captain cool loses his cool when he's hungry, or the recent one with Rohit Shetty, where a disciplined, sedate driving instructor loses his cool when he's angry and literally becomes Rohit Shetty. We brought the relevant insights to India to drive this message strongly.”

The premium game

After Snickers, the second brand launched was Galaxy chocolate in 2013, which was at first imported in India till its manufacturing plant was set up in 2021. Since then, Galaxy has grown at high double digits, contributing to 20% of Mars Wrigley’s India revenue. Positioned as a premium brand, targeting SEC A consumers, particularly women –Galaxy smooth milk chocolate contributes the largest chunk of sales and Galaxy Fusions 70% dark chocolate is targeted to discerning consumers.
In 2024, Mars Wrigley India launched Galaxy Jewels, marking its’entry in the gifting category, with the proposition of ‘elevating ordinary moments into extraordinary celebrations,’ and actor Kiara Advani as the brand ambassador.

Boom boom boomer

The third focus brand is Boomer, the most well distributed product in Mars Wrigley’s portfolio reaching 18 lakh outlets, priced at ?1 and targeting GenZs and millennials. With cricketer Jasprit Bumrah as its brand ambassador, the brand used word play for its tagline, ‘Boom Boom Boomer, Boom Boom Bumrah.' In addition to chewing gums, Mars Wrigley India has now extended the brand equity of Boomer, with the launch of Boomer Lollipop, aiming to redefine a segment often perceived as kiddy and childish. Entering the ?800 crore lollipop category, Boomer Lollipop has been introduced in three variants, Strawberry, Orange, and Watermelon. Rao says, “We are expanding this equity to the fast-growing segment of lollipops. Accompanying a strong launch in trade we have Jasprit Bumrah lending his brand of fun and swag to Boomer Lollipop. The creative campaign crafted with DDB and Essence Mediacom projects the swag and attitude associated with Lollipops but perhaps lost over the last decade.”

Betting on local innovation

Even though the original Snickers contributes to 80% of Snickers' sales, Mars Wrigley’s commitment to local innovation has led to Snickers being localized to the Indian tastebuds with the launch of Snickers Peanut Brownie, Eggless Snickers, Snickers Cashew, Snickers Almond and even Snickers Kesar Pista. Rao says, “Though the Snicker variants form 20% of our sales, we do experiment with it as every variant has a different role. Almond, is the strong number two and people who don't prefer peanut would go to almond and this has got premium connotations. The other flavors give us additional reach and penetration as some people don't prefer the plain variant.”

Commenting on the brand’s media choices, Rao states that 50% of its media reach comes from TV with the other 50% being digital. On the technology front, while AI and generative AI is used in creating content and images at scale and also for addressable personalized media, Mars Wrigley as a company is treading very cautiously on the use of the AI. Sharing a global creative, Rao highlights last year campaign, in the UK, wherein Snickers collaborated with football manager, José Mourinho - or rather the AI-powered José Mourinho clone - to personally sort out every fan's own goals. The campaign allowed consumers to bring their personalized interactions with José into the communities and conversations they care about most and the AI clone was trained to mimic the personality and generate limitless pieces of original video content, and designed to be shared to many. Rao also sees potential users for AI when it comes to data and is piloting tools internally on how to gather integrate data and insights from across touch-points to make informed decisions.

The quick commerce play

Being a late entrant to the Indian market and a premium brand, Mars Wrigley’s strength lies in e-commerce and modern trade. Rao says, “E-commerce would be about 10% - 15% of sales, and modern trade would be about 20% of our sales. Traditional trade will be slightly lower in contribution than the other FMCG players. Within ecommerce, quick commerce is growing very fast, especially for snacking and impulse. When you crave a chocolate at 4:00 p.m. or midnight, you are going to get it on Blinkit, Zepto or Swiggy Instamart. Quick commerce contributes upwards of 60% of our e-commerce sales and is growing very fast.”

While Snickers, Galaxy and Boomer are the focus brands for Mars Wrigley in India, the brand’s extensive portfolio includes popular brands such as Mars, Skittles, Bounty, Twix, Milky Way, Maltesers, M&M’s, Doublemint, and Orbit, amongst others. Currently, these brands are being imported into the country, but is Mars Wrigley looking to expand its Indian Are you looking to expand these operations in the Indian portfolio beyond the three focus brands? Rao says, “We have the biggest products and we do play opportunistically with them. We have not started supporting them and treating them as a core focus brand. Definitely, Mars, Bounty, and Twix are big brands, but they work in their niches. They do very well at the top end, in modern trade and e-commerce and in certain geographies. In the gum category, we have the chewy mint Doublemint and our sugar-free product, Orbit, which does extremely well at chemist outlets and with people trying to cut calories.”

Doubling the Indian business

Looking ahead, Mars Wrigley India has set an ambitious target of doubling its size of business in India in the next four to five years, and the company is looking to continue to invest in its brands, people and factories. Rao states, “We want to have a stable base and grow at a sustainable pace. While the growth is being led by Snickers right now, we want Snickers to grow in double-digits. Similarly, Galaxy is a smaller and younger brand, and want it to grow in high double-digits. With Boomer being a well distributed brand, we want to use that to grow the company's penetration and distribution. These are the three spaces in which we want to grow. We are open to all opportunities and will continues to invest into e-commerce where consumers are logged, modern trade and top end of traditional trade.