MARS Bar Launches New Direction on the Catwalk

The first execution, Catwalk, is inspired by an original Jean Paul Gaultier pret-a-porter show – with a twist.

MARS marketing director, Matt Graham, thinks Mars Bar consumers will love the humour in the new spots.

“We’ve moved away from the ‘rational’ energy space and injected a lot more fun and creativity, which I think will give it longevity,” he said.

“We’re excited to be forging a new start for one of the world’s best-loved chocolate brands.”

Clemenger BBDO Melbourne creative director Stephen de Wolf explains the rationale behind the change in creative direction.

“In the past, eating a Mars Bar was a catalyst for a huge uplift in energy. But we’ve all moved on and now that space is owned by energy drinks. The new positioning is about a ‘mental’ uplift – short lived moments that are more fun. The campaign we are rolling out shows that we are not taking life too seriously,” he said.

Group account director Jennifer Chin says the agency was very excited when Mars settled on the ‘Put some play in your day’ line.

“It gave us a credible way to express the product benefit for Mars. We can see an infinite number of entertaining executions coming out of this for the next ten to twenty years,” she said.

Catwalk was shot in London with director Ulf Johanssen, responsible for work on campaigns including Old Spice, Snickers, Skittles, Cadbury and Miller Lite.