Halloween got me thinking about why I like Snickers candy bars so much.

Your child’s Halloween loot was probably filled with lollipops and a variety of popular treats like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Hershey’s Miniatures and the like. Going through my son’s basket of goodies got me thinking about why I like Snickers bars so much.

Great brands help people be more of themselves because they solve their problems, address issues important to them or help them achieve something greater than themselves. I’ve loved Snickers since I was a kid, and on many occasions, Snickers is my chocolate bar splurge of choice.

Its memorable tagline is etched in my mind; “Packed With Peanuts, Snickers Satisfies," ran from 1979 to 1995, from then-agency Ted Bates Worldwide. Snickers advertising over the years has consistently laddered up to its functional benefit of satisfying hunger. It has been singularly focused on this positioning for as long as I can remember, yet has stayed relevant and distinctive in a very crowded confectionary category.  

What’s made this brand so iconic? From an archetypical brand perspective, I believe that Snickers has been a Hero brand—it’s the antidote to hunger, always saving the day when you’re hungry. Its current campaign You’re not you when you’re hungry, introduced during the 2010 Super Bowl, featured Betty White as a hungry football player and has been a thorough success. It has won numerous awards including the 2011 Global Gold Effie for advertising effectiveness.

One can argue, the brand veered slightly away from its satisfying hunger positioning with its Snacklish campaign which launched in early 2009. The campaign attempted to create its own language system connected to Snickers’ core equities and the passions of the brand’s target and its cultural interests along with some context-based messages at airports, taxis and the like. Some very smart tactics included digital billboards that changed creative to match the time of day, such as “3 o’clockishment,”—typically the time people make a beeline to the vending machine.

According to the Mars corporate website, Snickers is the world's biggest selling candy bar. A few years back, the brand surpassed M&M's as the top international confectionery brand, according Euromonitor International, with global sales surging to $3.57 billion, capturing a 1.8% share. 

I believe what has driven sales volume is the brand’s ability to bring in new buyers to the franchise. According to Kantar’s 2014 Global Brand Footprint Report which measures fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brand penetration, frequency and growth, Snickers ranked 62, adding more than 10 million shoppers worldwide and ranked fifth in brands attracting the most new shoppers. While heavy buyers are important, chances are there aren’t too many of them and the ability to drive incremental consumption is somewhat limited. Brand penetration strategies in the confectionary category need to focus on increasing the number of light users, rather than heavy or core users especially when there are so many great tasting chocolate options to choose from. Line extensions into adjacent categories that increase brand occasions such as Snickers Ice Cream bars also can help to efficiently scale the brand franchise.

The brand continues to roll out great ads—the latest you may have seen feature Danny Trejo and Steve Buschemi—who star as Marcia and Jan Brady (of the Brady Bunch) respectively. The video on YouTube has about 15 million views.

Recently the brand has extended its campaign by teaming up with Twitch, a live streaming platform and three serious gamers with over one million followers combined. The three gamers streamed their normal play and then as they got preoccupied with their hunger, they made mistakes and ultimately turned into different people altogether. Once they each had a Snickers bar, they went back to their former super-gamer selves. The stunt went viral on Twitch, Twitter and Reddit and connected with the gaming community. 

Snickers appears to be firing on all cylinders with a big campaignable idea that is globally relevant. I’m sure the brand will continue to be a leading player in the category with its sibling Mars rivals M&M’s and Twix.

I look forward to your perspective and feedback.