Twix: A tale of two bars - How story-telling helped

turn Twix into a truly global brand

Crystal Rix and Lucy Howard
Source: Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, Entrant, IPA Effectiveness
Awards, 2014
Downloaded from WARC

This case study explains how Twix, the chocolate brand, invented a brand history to engage people
and increase sales in the US and other markets.

Over the years, Twix's positioning had been inconsistent, launching entirely new campaigns every
three to five years and using a staggering 15 end lines in 20.
Taking inspiration from Snickers, Twix identified the opportunity to develop a campaign that could
deliver a clear and compelling brand proposition and personality for Twix to propel the business
forward around the world.
The two-bar format of the product was at the core of a campaign developed around a fictitious
rivalry between two factories, each believing their Twix bar is the best.
Creativity drove effectiveness, and the campaign got consumers to engage through digital media.
By executing the simple truth of two Twix bars through an advertising narrative, the story of 'twice
the joy' generated a ROMI of 3.35 in the first 12 months in the US.

Principal authors: Crystal Rix, BBDO NY; Lucy Howard, AMV BBDO
Contributing authors: Dale Green, Mars Chocolate; Matt Turnbull, AMV BBDO

1. Précis
"Happiness. Simple as… chocolate, or tortuous as the heart. Bitter. Sweet. Alive."

Joanne Harris, Chocolat

Chocolate is an emotive topic… at once seductive and regressive, with consumers feeling a strong and personal
bond with their favourite brands.
Interestingly, whilst people might love Twix as a product, they have not necessarily related to it emotionally, as a
brand. Indeed, they have struggled to articulate what it stands for or epitomises beyond cookie, caramel and
chocolate.

This marks Twix out in a category dominated by big hitters with strong brand perceptions and love, and leaves
the brand outside the core repertoire of many consumers1.

In contrast to older sibling Snickers, Twix therefore fails to be a major contributor to the success of the Mars
Confectionary portfolio on a global scale.

This is the story of how engaging story telling gave this product a personality, driving penetration and sales and
ensuring that Twix can look forward to playing a key role for Mars in the future.

2. The challenge
Turn Twix into a key player within the Mars portfolio

While Mars Chocolate is a category leader in the U.S., the organisation faced serious competitive threats
globally. Large competitors like Nestle and Kraft were investing heavily in developed regions (U.S., U.K.,
Continental Europe) and emerging markets (Middle East, Africa, Turkey, Ukraine).

The top five brands in the category account for 13% of share within the global chocolate category, and each of
them dwarf Twix:2

Figure 1: Global Chocolate Sales by Brand

To remain globally competitive and ensure long term success, Mars needed to grow share across key global
markets. Whilst Snickers has successfully achieved top ranking globally, its younger sibling Twix was not pulling
its weight.

Within the global confections category, Twix was a relatively small brand. The franchise was ranked 12th behind
behemoth brands like Snickers (1st) and direct competitor Kit-Kat (3rd), each generating nearly 2.5 times the
sales of Twix.3

In the key U.S. market, Twix was dwarfed even further. The franchise was ranked ninth behind behemoth
brands like Reese's (first) and M&M's (second), each generating nearly five times the sales of Twix.1 Key
competitor Kit-Kat was ranked fifth, with more than 1.5 times the sales of Twix.
Figure 2: Global Chocolate Sales by Brand

In 2010 and beyond, the situation seemed set to deteriorate further, particularly in the U.S. The Twix brand was
facing aggressive media spend set against Hershey's renewed focus to grow Kit-Kat, increasing their investment
from $2M in 2008 to nearly $40M in 2010.4

Figure 3: Kit Kat Spend in the US, 2008 vs. 2010

Against this fierce competitor backdrop, how could we ensure that the Twix brand punched above its weight to
become a genuine contributor to the ongoing success of the Mars business?

3. The opportunity
Restoring the brand to restore the business

Over the years, Twix's positioning has been inconsistent, launching entirely new campaigns every 3-5years5
and using a staggering 15 endlines in 20 years in the U.S. alone.

The campaigns have typically followed one of two strategies:

Highlight the cookie, caramel and chocolate composition of the product: 'The mix'
Highlight the format of the product: 'Two-ness'

Figure 4: Overview of U.S. Twix campaigns, 1979-2011

In 2011, Twix launched the 'Pause Like You Mean It' campaign. Based on the premise that two bars offered a
better break (and therefore falling in the 'two-ness' camp), this campaign attempted to encroach on territory of
key competitor, Kit Kat. However, this positioning area had been dominated by Kit-Kat for more than 50 years in
many countries. Twix's effort to convince consumers to take time to pause and enjoy a Twix was an uphill battle
against Kit-Kat's entrenched campaign and famous jingle: 'Have a break, have a Kit Kat':

Figure 5: Selected Kit Kat campaigns, 1957-2013

The result of this schizophrenic approach? A distinct lack of consumer involvement, resulting in an absence of
brand meaning and equity. Whilst consumers were positively verbose on the subject of the competition, Twix
word clouds show just how much consumers struggle to articulate what the brand is all about beyond straight
product attributes:

Figure 6: Twix word clouds (Germany, UK, U.S.)

This lack of brand meaning is a dangerous situation in a category where brand involvement is typically high:

Figure 7: Brand involvement by category6

This lack of brand meaning is also evidenced by Twix's absence from the upper echelons of 'brand rankings'.
Twix languishes outside the top 100 for MPP's 'Top 100 Brands', and also their Core Brand Power Ranking.
Whilst mothers rank Hersheys, M&Ms, Reese's and Kit-Kat within their top 10 favourite brands, Twix is an
outsider at number 18.7

In contrast, stable mate Snickers has a clearly understood and consistent brand personality. This compelling
brand personality has – via the globally successful 'You're Not You When You're Hungry' platform – delivered
fantastic returns, as documented in the multi-award winning IPA paper of 2012.

Taking inspiration from Snickers, we believed that our opportunity lay in developing a campaign that could
deliver a clear and compelling brand proposition – and personality - for Twix to propel the business forward
around the world… all within three months of the agency taking on this new business.

3. Objectives
A campaign to bring meaning to the Twix brand in order to drive the business forward

Our objectives can be summarised as follows:

1) Re-launch the Twix brand with a distinctive campaign with the potential to travel the globe

Again inspired by Snickers, we determined that the campaign insight needed to be universally relevant across
global regions in order to achieve two inter-related objectives: exciting the local marketing teams and driving a
commonly understood and motivating brand personality.

Despite having global brands, Mars operations are decentralized. Investment behind the brand is left to local
market discretion and highly depends on a local market's confidence in Twix's ability to contribute to the bottom
line. Years of inconsistent and ineffective advertising had weakened regional support for the brand, and it was
becoming harder to excite local marketers and sales forces.

With no central funding for the campaign development, we would have to prove the power of the new brand idea
in order to produce and air a big, distinctive global campaign for Twix. Instilling confidence with the regions
would require a strong strategic platform that could stretch across varying cultures and business needs and lead
to a brilliant creative concept. Additionally, all copy would need to pass IPSOS copy testing in at least three
regions for the organization to consider a campaign to be a global idea.

We had a particular focus on the U.S. plus the key strategic territories of France, U.K, Turkey and Ukraine
(these markets cover launch and existing markets, and also represent the major regions where Twix is present:
Continental Europe, Middle East and CIS).

2) Grow volume sales in both developed and emerging chocolate markets

The campaign needed to re-ignite a historically flat business in developed markets (for this case, we will focus
on UK and France) and spark successful launches in emerging markets (for this case, we will focus on Turkey
and Ukraine).

Behind these business headline objectives lay market appropriate marketing objectives – for example, driving
penetration in emerging markets.

3) Grow sales for total Twix U.S. Franchise

Driving U.S. growth is critical given the scale of the U.S. business, and for this reason it was given particular
focus at all stages of the developmental process.

In particular, we were looking to:

 Increase total U.S. product shipments by 5%
The effort needed to bolster demand with retailers and improve overall product sales.
Revitalize core product sales growth in the U.S.
To ensure sustained success in any business, core product growth was a must, and needed to be featured
at the heart of the work.

4. The strategy
A simple product truth that unlocks a universally appealing benefit

Arriving at an ownable idea with global stretch meant playing off a story that would carry universal appeal, but
also one that was true to the Twix DNA. By leveraging a product truth, we would be able to build a credible
message that resonated across the globe, and make sure the idea was uniquely Twix.

The one equity consistent across the regions was the product's format and composition – two bars made of
chocolate, cookie and caramel. As demonstrated earlier in this paper, Twix's advertising history was somewhat
schizophrenic, with campaigns either highlighting format (twoness) or composition (mix). Neither, on its own, had
enabled Twix to build a consistent and compelling brand proposition.

Of course, it is the combination of format and composition – double the deliciousness – that provides our point
of difference, and this provided the foundation for the campaign brief:

Our brand benefit:

Twix offers simple joy, twice

Twoness and 'the mix' were at the core, but we knew that, in order to connect with consumers, and create
appealing work, we needed to transform the two-bar format of the product into an emotional and entertaining
story. We saw an opportunity to tap into the universal benefit of indulgence – enjoying a chocolate bar is great;
getting to enjoy it twice provides exponentially more joy.

However, we needed to find a compelling creative idea to bring this truth alive

5. The creative idea

THERE'S A LEFT TWIX AND A RIGHT TWIX: WHICH DO YOU LOVE MORE?

All over the world, when given a choice, people will choose what they love and then defend that choice to the
end.

This creative work uses silly hyperbole and peoples' innate desire for debate to both involve the consumer and
amplify the unique benefit of the two bars. It creates a playful world in which we ask people to choose which
Twix they prefer, – the genius, however, is that it is impossible to choose between the two bars because, first,
they are identical, equally delicious bars and secondly, they are always packaged together.
It is both a composition story, as it demands that consumers think about the make-up of each bar, and a story
about the duality of the Twix product.

Our next challenge? Delivering this story in a way that gave Twix a personality.

6. Executing the idea

LEFT TWIX. RIGHT TWIX. PICK A SIDE

To deliver on the idea of "twoness," and create something uniquely Twix, we developed a fictitious rivalry
between two factories, each believing their Twix bar is the best (when in fact the two bars are identical).

The absurdity of this idea allowed for playful and mischievous situations to occur. Whether it was either side
trying to stand out, curious characters acknowledging the bars' identical nature or asking consumers to "pick a
side" between two identical bars, we aimed for the ridiculous. This allowed us to put the product at the centre,
but to also offer consumers more by encouraging interaction with the debate.

Since we needed to establish an idea for Twix that had mass appeal, we launched with video work (TV, online)
that shared the backstory of these two factories, and how they came to be so "different." It turns out, years ago,
that the Twix founders had a falling out and, just as the product broke into two pieces, so did the production
lines. The launch ad debuted in a YouTube homepage takeover, kicking off the rivalry, and asking consumers to
choose between the two sides. Of course, no matter which side consumers chose, they landed in the exact
same spot.

Figure 8: Launch TV ("Ideologies")

Our second TV execution took the story to the present day, where a young executive discusses with his boss
the possibility of merging – a seriously insane proposition, of course, being that he just doesn't like the way
"they" carry themselves.

Figure 9: Follow up TV ("Merger")

Wherever consumers interacted with the idea, we didn't want to disappoint. We used Twix's distinctive colours of
gold and red throughout all mediums, where Left and Right Twix's individual colour schemes were simply mirror
images of each other. This cohesive look and feel allowed us to bring the idea to life beyond video in more static
mediums, and drive comprehension of the idea in its early stages.

Because we wanted the idea to live in the real world, we needed to ensure that our brand website walked the
walk. No longer just the Twix brand, these two separate entities needed to find a way to share one URL.
Twix.com was re-imagined to ensure that it was clear just how different these two identical sides were. We
used the same visual style of the website in digital display units, which drove the reach of the idea.

Figure 10: Global brand website

On Facebook, we looked to leverage the scale of our large fan base on a single feed, but also bring the two
sides to life. In a medium where you receive real-time feedback from consumers, we weren't disappointed. Some
people questioned the idea, and some people adamantly defended that both bars were delicious, while others
actually picked a side. Getting consumers to engage with the idea was what mattered. After all, healthy debate
was only natural for a deep-seated rivalry.
Figure 11: Facebook activity

The idea had to come to life in-store as well to ensure it motivated at point of purchase. The confrontational
question of the campaign gave us a great property with which to stop consumers in their tracks and encourage
action, and the tone of the idea allowed us to do this in a positive and humorous way:

Figure 12: Trade activation

To be a big brand building idea, we needed to ensure that it could extend into other partnerships and brand
initiatives. And it did, allowing us to create an idea that lived on over 15 platforms, with executions as diverse as
mobile gaming, Spotify and Pandora integrations, takeovers at Six Flags Park and a Pick a Side song contest
with The Swon Brothers.
Figure 13: Platform overview (U.S.)

7. The results
We saw excellent results against each of our core objectives:

I. Re-launch the Twix brand with a distinctive campaign with the potential to travel the globe

2. Grow volume sales in both developed and emerging chocolate markets

3. Grow sales for total Twix U.S. franchise

1. Re-launch the Twix brand with a distinctive campaign with the potential to travel the globe

As per our ambition, our insight and idea captured the minds of consumers and ignited internal
confidence quickly.

For the first time in Mars history, a campaign passed copy-testing in all test markets: Canada, the U.S., the U.K,
France, Germany, Turkey and Saudi Arabia:

Figure 14: Summary of copy testing results in test markets

Of particular note are the results in the U.S., where 'Ideology' received a 'green' rating for 15 of 19 KPIs. Key
highlights include8:

Brand communication: 87%

Makes me feel good: 70%

Entertaining: 64%

Distinctive: 61%

Would enjoy watching again: 60%

In the 'Pick a Side' conceit, we created a piece of cultural language that was even used to satirise the lack of
difference between the leading political parties in the U.S.9

By allowing consumers to feel 'in on the joke', we drove involvement and engagement with the brand.
Consumers understood and – crucially – engaged with the idea, enjoying both the message and the humour
with which it was delivered. At last, Twix was gaining a personality10:

"The left and right Twix bars are made exactly the same but you always pick one side first"

"No matter what side you choose, they are equally delicious"

"A consistent and quirky brand"

"Unique and creative"

This creative achievement quickly inspired local market confidence in Twix's ability to contribute to the bottom
line – pushing this work beyond the U.S. into a truly global campaign. The creative idea helped reverse years of
inconsistency and bolstered advertising investment across key global regions.

Figure 15: Post campaign confidence survey amongst regional management

The campaign was enthusiastically embraced by the sales force, as this anecdote from the Ukraine illustrates11:

Figure 16: Verbatim from National Field Force Manager (Ukraine)12

"Successfully launched marketing campaigns always find its places in every day's life of our team. And
sometimes these campaigns may find new interpretations. Once, our inventive Sales Rep while taking
an order in an outlet, used the idea of two factories - he was selling Twix from one factory and then
from another one. Eventually the outlet ended up placing a double order :. Sales managers liked this
trick and called it Ideology Drive.

But no story will proof marketing campaign success better than Twix sales growth at our market

We are truly proud of our product and its supporting strategy on our market!"

Since the campaign launched in the U.S. in July 2012, it has rolled out across over 30 markets, including the
U.K, Russia, the Middle East, Continental Europe (which is comprised of 18 countries) and Australasia.

Figure 17: Countries in which the campaign ran (phase 1)

2) Grow volume sales in both developed and emerging chocolate markets

With a strong creative idea and regional support in the brand across the globe, Twix achieved strong growth
across both developed and emerging markets.

Our key strategic markets saw significant growth in volume:

France: +9.1%13
 UK: +37% 14
Turkey: +187%15
Ukraine: +44%16

The creative helped generate strong consumer response, with an overall increase in consumer off-take:

France: +7%6
UK: +52%7
Turkey: +209%8
Ukraine: +19%9

Figure 18: Volume and Off-Take increases in key markets

Other highlights include:

France

Household penetration up from 11.9% to 13.4%17

UK

Household penetration up from 6.4% to 10.7%18

Turkey

Household penetration up from 1.1% to 5.2%19

Brand ranking amongst chocolate confectionary brands up from 50 (pre campaign) to 30 (post).20

Ukraine

The fastest growing brand in the Mars chocolate portfolio, growing twice as fast as the portfolio as a whole

Total brand awareness up 18%21

Spontaneous brand awareness up 14%22
Claimed purchase in last month up 75%23
NB No penetration data exists for Ukraine

3. Grow sales for the total U.S. Twix franchise

Commercial gain:

The launch of the campaign has reinvigorated the Twix business in the U.S. – not only has the organization
galvanized behind the creative idea but the business has also garnered positive sales momentum post campaign
launch:

1) In the 52 weeks prior to the campaign launch, the MAT shipment sales were flat (+0.0%). Following the
campaign launch, the 52-week MAT shipments were up +7.8%.24

Figure 19: U.S. sales increases

2) Prior to the campaign launch, the sales of the core product SKU were struggling (-20.3%).12 However, 18
months after the campaign launch, there is now significant sales momentum behind core SKU (+10.9%).25

Figure 20: U.S. core product sales increases

3) We see this positive trajectory continuing on the total Twix franchises. Prior to when the campaign launched
in July 2012, the sales were in decline (-8.7%). By the end of 2013, the decline had stopped and the sales of the
total Twix franchise were growing (+7.8%).26

Figure 21: U.S. pre and post sales increases

4) Now entering its third year in market, the campaign is still driving dollar sales growth behind the brand
(+7.6%).27

Isolating the effect of advertising

Tunderstand the impact the new advertising campaign had on Twix® performance in the U.S., consumption
models were constructed using sales data from IRI food markets, drug regions, Target, Kmart and convenience-
store and vending-machine data from MSA. The model was built to help isolate the effect of other variables on
sales, including, but not limited to, trade investment, pricing and distribution changes. Given the time required to
construct the model, only 2012 results and First Half 2013 Gross Sales Volume ROI data is available for
analysis.

The marketing mix model28 demonstrated that total Twix® TV/ Other media was a volume-contributing factor at
+1.5% during the First Half 2013 period (vs. first half 2012 before campaign launch), of which TV response
contributed to about 17% (of the franchise volume gain).

2nd half 2012 results (U.S. only, Gross Sales Volume)

TV:

ROI: $2.80

Digital:

ROI: $3.22

1st half 2013 results (U.S. only, Gross Sales Volume)

TV:

ROI: $3.18

Digital:

ROI: $5.67

This resulted in an overall Gross Sales Volume ROI of $3.35 for the first 12 months following the
campaign launch in the U.S.

Whilst it has not been possible to isolate the impact of advertising in our other markets, we are confident that the
consumer and trade response suggest a similar effect.

In summary
The TWIX® case study is a great example of how excellent craft and creativity can transform a simple product
truth intoa memorable campaign that alsodrives business results.

The brilliance of this particular work was that it tapped intoa universal idea that transcends borders, cultures and
diverse markets while alsoaccomplishing all business objectives—sales, consumer off-take, and even our goal
toreverse years of inconsistent positioning togive Twix a powerful and entertaining brand story that could last
many years over.

Creativity, in this case, was the driver of our effectiveness. By executing the simple truth of twodelicious Twix
bars through engaging, product-inspired narratives, our uniquely Twix story of "twice the joy" made all the
difference.

After 20 years and 15 endlines, we have a brand building, business driving thought with staying power.

Footnotes

1 Euromonitor ranked Twix as the 12th most popular chocolate brand (by sales volume) in the U.S. in 2011

2 Euromonitor 2012

3 Euromonitor, 2013

4 Agency Research, Syndicated Data 2008-2010.

5 Mars Internal Tracking.

6 Ipsos ASI

7 Momfinity via MPP Consulting

8 ARS Copy Test Analysis, U.S., January 2012

9 PoliTwix: Are left and right side really different? Libertyblog.org

10 Comscore Copy Test Analysis verbatims, 2012

11 Bolotnov Igor, National Field Force Manager, Ukraine

12Bolotnov Igor, National Field Force Manager, Ukraine

13 Nielsen, November 2012 - October 2013.

14 IRI, October 2012 - October 2013.

15 Nielsen, November 2012 - October 2013.

16 Mars Internal Data, October 2012 - October 2013.

17 TNS MAT P12 2012, TNS MAT P12 2013

18 Kantar 12 w/e Dec 31st 2011, 12 w/e Dec 31st 2012

19 Ipsos HTP Nov 12 vs Nov 13

20 AC Nielson

21 Inmind Tracking (Ukraine)

22 Inmind Tracking (Ukraine)

23 Inmind Tracking (Ukraine)

24 MAT $ Sales (Shipments - GSV), April 2012 and December 2013.

25 Nielsen Offtake L12 $ Sales for Twix Singles, June 2012 and February 2014.

26 Nielsen Offtake L12 $ Sales, June 2012 and December 2013.

27 YTD $ Sales (Shipments - GSV), February 2014.

28 Analytic Partners Marketing Mix Consulting (see appendix for further details)

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