Mars is having novices sell the story of its snack bars, called GoodnessKnows, in a new campaign following the brand’s national debut.
The “better for you” snack bar line debuted in the Denver and Boulder areas in 2010. A national rollout and marketing push for GoodnessKnows, or as the company writes it, goodnessknows, began in 2015.
For Mars, which leads the U.S. confectionery category, grabbing a bigger bite of the snack bar category will take more time. It is trying to expand in a sector where shelves are lined with established brands such as General Mills‘ Nature Valley, Clif Bar and Kind.
General Mills holds a 21.6% share in the $6.8 billion U.S. snack bar category, followed by Clif Bar (13.4%), Kellogg Co. (12%) and Kind (9.8%), according to Euromonitor International. Kellogg lost share in 2016 while the other three top players grew, Euromonitor data showed.
“It’s a crowded category and we’re breaking through and sales are doing well,” said GoodnessKnows Senior Brand Manager Eric Epstein.
After expanding its distribution, GoodnessKnows is now expanding its line with three new flavors: mixed berries, almond and dark chocolate; blueberry, almond and dark chocolate; and strawberry, peanuts and dark chocolate. Like the first three flavors, each product contains four squares in a pack that total 150 calories.
Ads in 2015 and 2016 showed actors portraying trying to do good things but faltering a bit along the way. In one, for example, a woman hits the gym but doesn’t quite know the steps in class and winds up hitting a woman beside her during a routine.
“We’ve tried to celebrate people’s attempts at self-improvement, even if those attempts are imperfect,” Mr. Epstein said. “In this campaign, we took a step further in terms of authenticity.”
