You’re not you when you’re hungry

There is no need for an introduction to one of the most well-known candy bars in the world. It went far, from its humble beginnings as a chocolate bar, allegedly named after a horse in 1930; it grew in popularity and became the best-selling candy bar in the world, with more than 2 billion USD in annual sales across more than 70 countries. I am, of course, talking about Snickers.¹

A large part of Snickers' success was arguably due to its genius marketing campaign "You're not you when you're hungry," which was acclaimed and won many marketing awards. This explanation will dig deeper into Snickers' successful marketing campaign and strategy.

Snickers You're Not You When You're Hungry Campaign

From 2007 to 2009, Snickers experienced a sales growth decline; it was losing market share and was at risk of losing its leading position as the world's best-seller chocolate bar. In addition, over the last few years, there was no unified strategy across the company's branches; in other words, Snickers was losing its touch.²

By nature, a Snickers bar is an impulsive buy - something people take on the go when they want a snack. The problem is that thousands of substitute products exist on the market. So Snickers realized they needed to create a permanent memory of their brand in people's minds to remember when they buy a snack. This marked the beginning of the search for a new marketing campaign for Snickers.

Fig. 1 - Peanuts

You're Not You When You're Hungry Meaning

Everything changed for Snickers in 2009, when it developed a new marketing strategy with the ad agency BBDO.² Their marketing research team realized that humans follow a code of conduct to live in society and groups. This behavior is closely linked to humanity's evolution, as we descend from animals who live in a pack, where there is generally a hierarchy, rules to follow, and things to do which ensure the group's cohesion. Humans unconsciously replicate this behavior when they are part of a group.⁶

The genius of Snickers' marketing strategy was to tap into this collective thinking and link this fact to its product. In its ads, Snickers often pictures specific types of people that are out of place in a group they shouldn't be associated with. For example, we can see an older man riding a motorbike with youngsters, the clumsy Mr. Bean in a group of skilled ninjas, and the actress Betty White on a football team.⁴ The idea was to show that those people didn't belong to this specific group. Then, someone would give them a Snickers bar and tell them they are not themself when they are hungry. After eating the Snickers bar, the out-of-place actor would transform into someone who belongs in that group: a young man riding a motorbike, a ninja, and a football player.

Snickers ads have a specific sense of humor, where they place a character that acts completely differently than it should be or is in a group or environment that doesn't make sense to them. The great thing about that humor is that it can easily be replicated repeatedly and will still be hilarious.

Snickers Target Audience

Although historically, Snickers targeted a young male audience, it shifted from that narrow target to a broader market. That shift in Snicker's target customers changed its marketing strategy. It had to reach a broader market segment by using various media, such as TV, movies, radio, internet platform, printed ads, billboards, etc. They wanted to be connected to as many people as possible so that their marketing strategy could reach further and transform Snickers into an icon brand relatable to everyone.

Snickers Brand Positioning

One of the great ways Snickers differentiates itself from other brands is through its positioning strategy and the use of marketing codes.

Throughout its marketing strategy, Snickers position itself by establishing that hunger makes you a different person and that Snickers can solve that problem and help you become yourself again. That's the value proposition Snickers offers.

As stated earlier, Snickers uses some marketing codes established over the years to differentiate itself from other brands and be immediately recognized by its customers, such as the Snickers logo or the caramel link you see when opening a Snickers, as shown in Figure 2 below.⁵

Fig. 2 - Marketing code: open Snickers with caramel

Snickers uses marketing codes in all its marketing campaigns to be immediately recognized by its customers. For example:

Snickers created an app with the brand's colors. When people use the app, it tells them who they would be when they were hungry, reinforcing both the codes used by Snickers, but also the message and positioning of the company.

Snickers wrote the famous sentence on some printed ads: "Luke, I am Your Mother" by Darth Vader. With that ad, Snickers claimed that Darth Vader was hungry and needed to eat. We can immediately recognize the brand's signature humor and the logo on the ad.

Snickers You're Not You When You're Hungry Celebrities

Celebrities' endorsement of the Snickers brand is a critical factor in its success. Snickers excels in leveraging the personality and fame of stars in its on-screen and off-screen marketing strategy to capture a more significant customer segment of the market.

When celebrities associate themselves with a brand, it gives the brand broader market coverage to those who like and trust them. As such, those potential customers might be more interested in the brand since it is endorsed by someone they respect.

Many Snickers TV commercials became cult as celebrities were put in a group entirely out of their character to reveal that they were hungry and were not themselves. For example, the diva Liza Minnelli in a group of young men on a road trip, Joe Pesci at a teenager party, the clumsy Mr. Bean in a group of highly skilled ninjas, Willem Dafoe in Marilyn Monroe's famous dress, etc.⁴

One example of this innovative marketing off-screen was when Snickers paid celebrities to write five posts on their Instagram accounts. The first four posts were inappropriate and completely off of what they usually post. For example, the top model Katie Price shared her thoughts about the Eurozone debt crisis, and the footballer Rio Ferdinand shared his wish to knit a cardigan. The final tweet shared the marketing campaign's plot, "You're not yourself when you're hungry." It was a huge marketing success as people shared and commented on the posts, making them viral. The media shared the stories, reaching more than 26 million people.² Just for reference, those two celebrities alone had almost 4 million followers, in contrast to SnickersUK, which only had 825 at that time.³

Another example is when Snickers asked the most popular morning DJ in Puerto Rico to play entirely out-of-character music, such as classic and opera songs, on a hip-hop radio station. After a while, an announcer stopped the music to announce that the DJ was hungry and needed a Snickers.²

Snickers' famous marketing campaign was a great way to convince people that they are not themselves when they are hungry and that Snickers can solve that problem. The genius of this campaign is that Snickers can repeatedly recycle the same joke with different characters in different environments; it will still feel different and be hilarious. But Snickers is not content with that and always finds new innovative ways to promote its brand with various platforms and celebrities while staying fresh in people's minds. What is certain for the future is that Snickers will continue making us laugh with great marketing campaigns.