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Mars Bows Visual Refresh, Purpose Statement To Support Growth Push

Mars, Inc. — the privately held, traditionally low-profile company best known for M&M’s, Snickers and the other candy brands that made its fortune — has introduced a new corporate mission statement, “Tomorrow Starts Today,” along with a unified visual identity scheme.

The efforts are meant to support the increasingly diverse company’s corporate growth push, in part by establishing a purpose-driven image that will help attract young talent to fuel that expansion.

The new graphics include a blue-and-green, sans-serif Mars corporate logo and logos for its three businesses that share the same font but use a differentiating color for each unit’s name: confectionary, food and pet care.

The refreshed logo and purpose statement are being rolled out on Mars’s social media channels, including Twitter (above).

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The introduction includes a video (below) that says the century-old, family-owned company’s independence allows it to “think in generations,” rather than in business quarters.

And in line with younger generations’ focus on supporting brands — and working for companies — that demonstrate commitment to sustainability and social values, the video stresses that Mars is “taking stands” on climate change (including being zero waste to landfill) and sustainable sourcing. It’s also “working to advance human rights,” “end pet homelessness” and “help consumers make informed choices,” among other efforts, according to the video.

Message: Mars know that “the world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today.”

One of the screens includes text pointing out that Mars is ranked third in “World’s Best Workplaces.” (Salesforce and Hilton were first and second in Fortune’s 2018 rankings.)  

Mars CEO Grant Reid recently told Bloomberg that the company intends to double its size over the next decade, to about $70 billion, through continued expansion via acquisitions and new proprietary brands in the pet care and “non-confectionary nutrition” businesses.

According to a 2017 Quartz article, the expansion will require adding about 70,000 employees to Mars’s current 85,000. (In the new video, Mars says it currently has 115,000 “associates” working in 180 countries.) The workforce growth is a particularly ambitious challenge for Mars. The company hasn’t been known as a top choice for MBA graduates, thanks to an insistence on tight secrecy for most of its history, reportedly borne of the confections industry’s cutthroat competition.

Mars has been tackling the challenge by pumping up its recruitment staff and using social media to get the word out about its attractions as an employer. The messaging emphasizes its numerous high-visibility brands, which now include Pedigree, Whiskas and other pet care brands, as well as Uncle Ben’s, Combos snacks, and nutrition brands like CocaVia supplements.

The corporate mission messaging and updated logos are also geared to enhancing the corporate image and bolstering Mars’s overall objectives, according to Andy Pharoah, Mars vice president of corporate affairs, strategic initiatives and sustainability.

Pharoah “led an effort which was really about how to differentiate Mars [based] on purpose,” he told Adweek, which first reported on the initiative. “There is an element of a brand refresh in this, but it’s not a marketing program. It’s a corporate approach to make it known that Mars stands for more.”

1 comment about "Mars Bows Visual Refresh, Purpose Statement To Support Growth Push".
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  1. Carol Udell from Canadian Viewpoint Incorporated, March 13, 2019 at 12:46 p.m.

    Though I'm not sure about the need for a new logo, the mission statement is in keeping with what younger people are looking for and what our communities are evolving towards - an emphasis on building a better tomorrow, starting with today. As long as this emphasis on better nutrition/health, more environmentally friendly processes, and more support for the good of humans and animals continues, they should do well.
    Carol Udell, Canadian Viewpoint

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