With its late appearance on the calendar this year, consumers have had more time to prepare for Easter.
Those extra weeks of prep time are nothing compared to the time Mars Wrigley’s head of seasonal marketing Chris Brody has spent getting ready for the holiday. At theUnited States’ largest confectioner, they’ve been preparing for this Easter since 2016.
The most important part of getting the stage set for Peter Cottontail’s big day is spending time with consumers, 87% of whom are预计将购买复活节糖果根据国家零售联合会的说法。
“Last year at this time, I was walking the stores with (shoppers),” Brody told Food Dive. “I was going into consumers’ houses and looking at how they display ... Easter blend M&Ms in their candy dishes, for instance, or Dove chocolate on the table. Or look at what's missing, and what they would like to be celebrating, … but weren't able to.”
Brody focuses on candy for all holidays at Mars Wrigley. He said that Easter is right behind Halloween in terms of the importance confections play in celebrations. According to NRF’s statistics, retail sales of Easter candy are expected to total nearly $2.5 billion this year. And without a doubt, a large chunk of that money is going to Mars Wrigley, which owns some of the top confectionery brands — including M&Ms, Dove and Starburst.
在像复活节这样的假期中，悠久的传统与消费者愿意尝试的新创新之间存在微妙的平衡。布罗迪说，充满糖果的复活节篮子，柔和色彩的巧克力陈列品以及儿童狩猎的鸡蛋狩猎一直很受欢迎。对于一般的复活节彩蛋狩猎和糖果展示，jelly beans are popular both as fillings for plastic eggs and colorful displays.
Innovation in Easter candy tends to add a new wrinkle to popular traditions, but not radically changing or replacing anything that has been beloved for generations. For example, Brody said Mars Wrigley tries to keep its Starburst jelly beans new and interesting. This year it is launchingtwo-flavor Duos.
流行的M＆M也有一些刷新。布罗迪说，消费者希望向其他成年人赠送复活节礼物。因此，糖果店将糖果重新包装成一个礼品罐，适合成人和复活节篮子。
Mars Wrigley also is trying something completely new this year, based on the tradition in other countries of smashing candy eggs on Easter morning. Exclusively at Walmart, Mars Wrigley has made Shell Smashers — hollow chocolate eggs to smash, with M&Ms or mini Snickers or Twix bars inside.
Brody said it’s already shaping up to be a good Easter season, which is always helped by having several favorite brands in its mix. While Mars Wrigley is already planning Easter 2020 — which will be slightly earlier in April — Brody said the company will take feedback and data gathered from this year and apply it to the future.
“We'll see some of the similar trends happen. We'll definitely learn new things this year. ...[We] definitely want to make sure that we're on our game ... [and] still give people enough opportunities to celebrate with the brands they love.”
