Mars Chocolate North American introduces TWIX® Creamy Peanut Butter Cookie Bars in vending and micro markets. TWIX® Creamy Peanut Butter Cookie Bars unite a layer of savory peanut butter on a classic TWIX® Cookie Bar, all coated with delicious milk chocolate.
The #1 consumer request among TWIX® Brand fans was to “bring back the classic cookie” – so the new recipe includes a traditional crunchy, flavorful TWIX® Cookie Bar instead of a chocolate cookie. This new item replaces TWIX® Peanut Butter Cookie Bars and boasts a new recipe that is preferred by consumers and that provides a strong peanut butter impact. Also new are a more desirable name with the “creamy” descriptor that scores highest among consumers, new packaging with simplified graphics that stand out on store shelves, and reduced carton counts (from 24 to 18 Ct.) to provide improved freshness and decreased inventory.
TWIX® Creamy Peanut Butter Cookie Bars debut in two sizes: singles (which include two bars) and the sharing size called “4 to Go” with four bars. Major marketing will support the launch. Highlights include several weeks of advertising on television, online video and mobile video (the first on-air support of peanut butter since 2007); consumer promotions with sampling and instore/POP tear pads; and social media.
New TWIX® Creamy Peanut Butter Cookie Bars is a significant opportunity for TWIX® Brand and for the Peanut Butter segment. Research reveals that only 4 percent of households are familiar with the current TWIX® Peanut Butter Cookie Bars; the 2015 re-launch will introduce the item to an untapped 96 percent of households. TWIX® Creamy Peanut Butter Cookie Bars will complement Mars’ existing lineup of successful Peanut Butter products -- SNICKERS® Brand Peanut Butter Squared and M&M’S® Brand Peanut Butter Chocolate Candies – which have contributed significantly to the growth of the Peanut Butter segment. This $2.3 billion segment is the fastest-growing within the Chocolate Confections category, up 4.7 percent over the last three years.