• by Larissa Faw , April 16, 2014

The Mars Agency is undergoing a makeover. The 42-year-old shop is ditching its Mars Advertising moniker in favor The Mars Agency.

Executives at the agency, known for its shopper-marketing expertise, say the rebrand includes a new corporate identity, vision, mission, Web site and logo running across all of its entities throughout the U.S., U.K and Canada.

The move comes as Mars eyes further expansion. It will continue to hire new executives, particularly those specializing in consumer insights, retail,and creative, as well as look at opening additional offices in Australia, Eastern Europe, South America and eventually Asia. 

“At one point in time, advertising simply meant producing an ad and placing it,” said Ken Barnett, Global CEO, The Mars Agency. “Today, the discipline of marketing has moved beyond traditional advertising and must incorporate every medium that connects brands with consumers and shoppers, including digital and social. We’re redefining our role to provide broad solutions that impact our clients and grow their businesses at every point of the marketing spectrum.” 

In addition to the visual changes, Southfield, MI-based Mars is evolving beyond just the consumer packaged goods industry to develop digital solutions that track and impact the shopper at every purchasing point possible.

“As behavior and shopping patterns continually evolve, so do the business solutions The Mars Agency creates,” says Rob Rivenburgh, the shop’s COO. “Whether it’s leveraging new technologies and mobile applications or recognizing new shopping preferences among different demographics, our ability to inspire change and drive growth comes from our deep understanding of the whole person and the buying experience.”

Indeed, the agency’s vision has expanded far beyond its original mission to now specialize in next-generation integrated marketing.

“Staying ahead of the curve as a digitally developed shopper marketing agency allows The Mars Agency to push the boundaries while maintaining its status as one of the top agencies in North America” says Derek Joynt, senior vice president, general manager of The Mars Agency in Toronto, Canada.

Removing advertising as part of its name was an obvious choice, say executives. "A lot of agencies specialize by medium," says Barnett. "They say they are social, digital, or experiential X. We didn't want to pick [a new name] that identifies us by medium. Say we went with Mars Insights, then that attaches us to one discipline. Instead, our new name starts with the central piece of our values and who we are as an independent agency," he says.

“This change is one of the biggest we have seen since our inception over 42 years ago,” adds Barnett. “In order to be a true leader in our changing industry, it was imperative for our organization to celebrate our past accomplishments while raising the bar and continuing to change the practice of marketing today.”