Mars Inc

A new day dawns

Mars Inc. Well known for their confectionary products, had become a powerhouse distributor of goods. Home to many loved brands and with the more recent acquisitions of Wrigley’s and Kellenova has grown exponentially to become one of the most important conglomerates in North America and the world.

Core to the organisation is its mission to making a better world tomorrow through how they do business today. From sourcing to communities to shop shelves they are committed to delivering the best to everyone person impacted. And central to this success is its staff and partners.

The brand visual identity was originally built with them in mind. Specially designed to be inward facing, its aim was to facilitate everything that happens internally. It was deliberately simple, making it non-invasive and allowed their consumer brands to take centre stage.

But as the organisation has developed over time, so too has the use of the visual identity, making it no longer fit for purpose. With an ever expanding portfolio of subsidiaries, a growing need for greater external reputation and increasing channels of communication, the brand was failing to maintain a consistent image and message. Meaning employees were facing more challenges in their day to day, a contrast to the deep sense of pride of what they were contributing to. Therefore the company brand needed to evolve to better serve its internal use, external reputation and long term business goals.

Inspired by the brand mission, we borrowed from the symbolism found in a sunset to inform the overall theme of the new visual identity. The signalling of dawn represented the world that Mars Inc is building towards. One that felt hopeful, warm and inviting. This featured throughout the colour palette, taking the original cold and corporate blue and giving it more life. These same hues featured across art direction, capturing people through a lens that felt intimate and familiar.

Typography took on a greater level of functionality, new systems of hierarchy and depth to individual IP, consistent motion language and an M icon used as a window introduced the audience into the different worlds that the brands inhabit. This same sense of growth gave the brand a feeling of the ‘now and the not yet’. The entire brand feels more at ease with its environment, bringing together the humanity of the world and the premium identity of the business.