Property:
M&M’s
Title:
M&M’s
Fun Pack
Platform:Advanced
Gameboy
Category:
Kid’s Entertainment
Target
Audience:Age
6 and up
Pricing:Wholesale
- $21/ Estimated Street Price - $29.95
Ship
Date:
September
11, 2000
Products Based on Property:
|
Title
|
Platform
|
Release
|
|
Mini Madness
|
Gameboy
|
11/00
|
|
The Lost
Formulas
|
PC
|
10/00
|
|
The M&M
Mini Adventure
|
Book
|
10/01
|
|
Mutiny
of the Mini’s
|
PSX
|
6/01
|
Product
Overview
Players compete in mini-game challenges within a variety of board
game styles in this multiplayer game for Advanced Game Boy featuring
the M&M’s Minis.
Product
Summary
M&M’s
Fun Pack is an assortment of lively and colorful challenges
set against four board-game style backgrounds. Collect as many M&M’s
Minis as possible before reaching the end of each level. The player
"rolls" a pair of digital dice and moves the M&M’s
Character of their choice along the "board," avoiding
animated obstacles and landing on squares that take you to the challenge
games. Up to four players can play together utilizing the Advanced
Game Boy multiplayer link feature.
Key
Features
- 4 different
game boards
- Choose your
favorite M&M’s characters
- Multiplayer
link
Positioning
The fun of the edgy commercials brought into lively, nonviolent
entertainment for the whole family
Target
Demographic
Rationale
for Launching This Product
- To capitalize
on the M&M’s brand and bring it into the world of digital
entertainment.
- Leverage
the continuing popularity and growth of M&M/Mars spokescandies
to subtly teach kids basic math skills.
- To create
a new niche/category of learning action games using recognizable
characters.
- There are
presently over 50 licensees ranging from stickers to telephones.
Key
Category Research/Support
Q Score
Support
- The overall
average score for these characters is 51, 122% more than the
overall average score for the 643 characters in the study.
- In the
demographics we are most concerned with, the characters had
one of the highest rankings.
- Television
support for the brand.
- M&M’s
brand is #1 in advertising spending in the category, committing
more than 3x the dollars versus the next closest competitor.
M&M’s Background
M&M’s is a registered trademark of Mars, Inc. one of the largest
and most secretive companies in the world, whose annual revenues
reach $15 billion. It is the #2 candy maker in the US and #1 company
internationally, and is #5 on FORBES list of privately held top
500 corporations. Mars candy products include M&M’s, Snickers,
Milky Way, 3 Musketeers, Skittles, Twix, and Starburst.
In addition, the company offers Dove ice cream, Combos
and Kudos snacks, Uncle Ben’s Rice (the #1
brand) and pet food. Mars sells its products in more than 100 countries
on five continents, with manufacturing facilities in more than 60
countries.
Consumer
Awareness for M&M’s
- Today, M&M’s
are found in more than 500,000 retail locations, with more than
350 million bags available at any one time, over 400 million M&M’s
made daily, and over 124 billion M&M’s produced each year.
- M&M’s,
Mars flagship brand, was introduced to the US in 1941 and sold
to American GI’s.
- In 1981,
NASA space shuttle astronauts selected M&M’s as part of their
official food supply.
- Mars has
successfully evolved the M&M’s brand and characters into a
strategic and tactical marketing force.
- M&M’s
television, radio and print campaigns were initiated in the 1950’s
with the slogan "Melts in you mouth, not in your hand."
- The advertising
campaign, beginning in 1996, utilizing Red and Yellow spokescandies,
ranked #1 among more than 60 campaigns as rated by USA Today,
and Marketing Evaluation Inc. said the popularity of the characters
surpassed the popularity of Mickey Mouse and Bart Simpson.
- The M&M’s
Counting Book has sold more than 750,000 copies
- Each M&M
spokescandy, with a unique personality trait, has captured audiences
of all ages, becoming some of the most recognized and loved characters
in the world.
- M&M’s
maintains an active and heavily trafficked site at http://www.m-ms.com
- Estimated
monthly traffic stands at 3 million hits
- Mars actively
promotes the brand through licensed goods sales, on-line games
and puzzles, fanzine and fan club memberships.
- M&M’s
The Lost Formulas will be actively promoted on this site on
its release in September 2000
|
