Snickers takes ‘first steps’ on diversity journey with LGBTI focus

Partnership with Gay Star News aims to provide online resources for people in the LGBTI community who might be struggling.

Snickers

Snickers is focusing its marketing on the LGBTI community for the first time, using its online advertising to tell consumers they should “be who you are”.

The brand, which is owned by Mars, has partnered with online publisher Gay Star News to launch Gay Star Support, a new part of the Gay Star News site that will provide resources for anyone in the community who is struggling with accepting themselves or coming out.

It will also tell stories of LGBTIs who have been through tough times and now want to help others.

When questioned by Marketing Week on whether the campaign demonstrated a move away from its previous male-focused ‘Get some nuts’ campaign slogan, Snickers refuted this claim.

“I don’t think we have moved away from our original focus. [As a brand] we tell a story about friendship, comradery, and acceptance among a group of friends. [This campaign] is a different way to tell that story of being who you are and the person you want to be,” Snickers’ brand director Christoph Weber tells Marketing Week.

The partnership will last for 12 months, with Snickers now looking at how it can evolve the campaign. It is working with Digital Pride, an online version of Pride events that usually run across the UK, in April to reach people who are not able to attend city events. It will also have a physical presence with Gay Star News at numerous Pride events over summer.

“We are also looking into leveraging stories coming from the community, through social media channels and Gay Star News. We are hoping for some good stories, where friends have played a big role or stories of acceptance,” he explains.

Maltesers has previously focused on diversity, and this is the first step for Snickers on this journey.

Christoph Weber, Snickers

The brand’s activity follows a Mars campaign for Maltesers, which it launched after winning Channel 4’s ‘Superhumans Wanted’ competition and focused on disabled people. And Weber says creating inclusive campaigns is now important across all of Mars’ brands.

“It something that we’re considering across the portfolio. We are looking at how we can use a more inclusive approach to reflect society better. Mars is a big advertiser, as is Snickers, and we have responsibility to reflect society,” he says.

Weber says there is “definitely” more work to do when it comes to brands focusing on the LGBTI community in their advertising, and admits the brand is “very much at the start of this journey”. Nevertheless, Weber says not all of the brand’s campaigns will have an LGBTI focus going forward.

“It’s not always the right solution but it can be a catalyst for a great creative idea. We will definitely consider it as part of the creative process,” he says.

“Maltesers has previously focused on diversity, and this is the first step for Snickers on this journey. [Mars is] looking at how can we partner with the right organisations to get the tone right, which is why Snickers partnered with Gay Star News for this campaign. We are at the beginning of that journey, but nowhere near there.”

Content is one of the categories at Marketing Week’s Masters of Marketing awards, taking place in October. For more information on the awards including a full category list and how to enter, visit www.festivalofmarketing.com/awards

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