Mars Wrigley creates fun and engagement with M&M’s Block at JFK

Mars Wrigley International Travel Retail (MITR) has unleashed a wave of activations at New York John F. Kennedy International Airport to promote a key product in its portfolio, M&M’s Block.

The campaign began on 19 December and runs through the first quarter of 2020. It is being hosted in Terminal 4 with Paradies Lagardère, So Chocolate and Chocolate & More shops. Promotions are also taking place with International Shoppes at T1 and T8.

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The common promotional mechanism across the various activations is a Buy 3 Get 1 Free offer (pictured below). This includes a limited-edition, travel retail-exclusive New York artwork sleeve to cover the bundle of four M&M’s Block.

With Paradies Lagardère, MITR has deployed a diverse range of fixtures to give M&M’s standout shelf appeal. Chocolate & More features a prominent display at the front of the store (with a movie playing alongside) and at the counter. At So Chocolate, MITR is promoting M&M’s Block in the centre of the store using a high-profile activation pillar.

From this month an M&M’s Block photo booth has been installed at the International Shoppes T1 store entrance. A M&M’s Block stand offers ‘bubble speeches’, where customers are encouraged to take pictures and share them on social media. MITR said that this activation is an example of the drive to create fun for, and engage with, the traveller.

In March, M&M’s Block ‘nesting tables’ will be introduced with International Shoppes. The retailer’s JFK T8 store will host counter displays installed adjacent to the checkout.

The various activations have been developed in close partnership with MITR’s US travel retail distributor, Otis McAllister.

Customers are encouraged to take pictures and share them on social media

Mars ITR category director Raghav Rekhi Category Director said: “This range of activations for M&M’s Block is a great way of creating fun and engagement with our customers at what is one of the most important airport locations for MITR in the US.

“There is a great spirit of co-operation with those retailers in introducing activations that create a buzz around the confectionery category in travel retail. It is proving to be a fantastic way to introduce M&M’s Block as a key element of our confectionery portfolio in airport store locations.”

The 3.8-4oz M&M’s Block chocolate tablets come in four different flavours: Peanut, Crispy, Chocolate, and Almond. M&M’s Block will be introduced to US travel retail buyers by MITR at the upcoming Summit of the Americas event in Orlando in late March via regional distributor Otis McAllister’s booth (611).

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