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Mars ups brand-building efforts through mobile game

Mars' M&M's has launched a mobile game to not only bolster brand awareness, but also entice candy enthusiasts.

The M&M Chocolate Factory game is available for 99 cents from Apple?s App Store. Mars is working with Alchemy3 on this initiative.

?The app and program are being launched through Mars Retail Group, the division of Mars that handles licensing for the organization,? said Jeff Schweig, Co-CEO and chief marketing officer at Alchemy3, Alpharetta, GA.

?While the app has been reviewed and approved by the M&M's brand team, the effort is put forth by Mars Retail Group to achieve licensing objectives,? he said.

?People are embracing the characters as they have been placed on just about every product imaginable.  As the brand team has developed the characters personalities ? and introduced new characters as well ? consumers can't get enough of them. The app allows fans to be able to interact and spend time with their favorite characters at their convenience.?

Sweeten the deal
In the M&M Chocolate Factory game, users help the M&M characters make their way through 12 different game levels inside a candy factory.

Characters are armed with a set of 6 tools that they must use to catch falling candies before they hit a pool of melted chocolate.

Each candy that is collected accumulates points.

In total, users can unlock 34 different game achievements, which helps add some longevity to the app.

The game is also set up to let users share content via Facebook and Twitter.

Branded opportunity
Besides gaming, M&M's has been steadily strengthening its mobile presence in the industry for a while now.

Most recently, the company ran an in-app mobile advertisement in the Today Show app to inspire users to whip up their own holiday-themed desserts (see story).

Consumer-packaged goods brands are often accused of not leading the way with mobile marketing. However, there are increasingly more examples of brands taking advantage of mobile to not only build brand awareness but also increase sales.

In particular, mobile gaming could be a good fit for consumer-packaged goods since brands tend to have wide demographics and gaming applications consistently rank as a top app category.

?I believe that more and more brands will try to replicate the M&M's app approach,? Mr. Schweig said.
 
?Such an effort may work for a few brand but certainly not for most,? he said. ?Just because a brand is recognizable and popular it does not mean that consumers want to purchase, own merchandise or services tied to that brand,? he said.

?Most CPG marketers will likely try to create apps that allow for brand interaction and thus create additional purchase of that CPG product.  On the other hand, Mars is not necessarily trying to get consumers to purchase more candy product ? they are simply providing a new and innovative way for fans to interact with the beloved characters.?

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York