This exam season, battle exam blues with Snickers

Snickers, the nougat, caramel and nuts filled chocolate bar from Mars Wrigley is urging students to beat all kinds of exam blues and wishes them the very best, with an innovative twist to the regular bar.

With the global brand proposition, ‘You are not you when you’re hungry’, the new campaign builds on how hunger makes people act out in unexpected ways, especially when there is additional stress due to exams.

The new campaign has been launched with a simple message that, ‘Exams can be stressful, don’t let hunger add to it’. While students across the country are putting in their best efforts to prepare for the upcoming exams, stress and nervousness are likely side effects that are hard to avoid, and this stress coupled with hunger can be a detrimental combination.

Snickers, famous for its quirky and humorous brand persona, has come to the rescue with Snickers Exam Bars, giving an innovative spin to the proposition with “Stress mat lo, Snickers lo”.
The limited-edition Exam Bars will be available with good luck greetings for the students such as ‘Do Well’, ‘Rock On’, and ‘Shine On’. The brand has also launched a comical film that offers respite to help battle the deadlines and stress of the fast approaching examinations, and a message that while stress and hunger can get to the best of us, one can always grab a Snickers.

Talking about the launch of the Snickers Exam Bars and the video, Mr. Yogesh Tewari, Marketing Director, Mars Wrigley, said “With the examinations approaching fast, our strategy was to use our signature tongue-in-cheek sense of humor that has become synonymous with Snickers to engage with our primary target audience by offering much needed relief from exam stress.

The launch of Snickers Exam Bar comes on the back of the insight that exams can be extremely stressful, and that hunger along with stress gets manifested through various behaviours. We are reiterating our commitment to our loyal consumers by offering a delicious chocolate with a positive and fun message to lighten up these taxing times.”

On the campaign, Akashneel Dasgupta, Chief Creative Officer – BBDO India, said, “Every classroom is a microcosm of society. We find all kinds of characters, almost stereotypes. But two things that are common is that they all get stressed during exams and hunger aggravates it.

It manifests in their behaviour and everyone behaves in way that’s atypical of them. Snickers addresses their hunger pangs, so that they can give their best. And one can be at their best only when they are themselves and not hungry. Snickers has also introduced exam specific packs in the market which carry wishes like Keep Calm, Shine On, etc. in place of the regular branding.”

Throwing further light on the campaign with regard to the proliferation of various content formats, Nikhil Mahajan, Chief Growth Officer, BBDO India, said “Digitally influenced content consumption is increasingly becoming a norm and more so for a very important cohort of Students. This generation wants brands to talk to them vs selling them products, so when the idea of an Exam Pack was conceived we decided to put out some snackable content online to lighten up the mood during this high stress period of exams. When your client is aligned to trying out new things or doing things differently, it always leads to an outstanding ‘result’!”

The film features characters that we are all too familiar with – ‘the topper’, who having revised the entire syllabus several times, makes everyone around him nervous with doubts and questions, or ‘the Gambler’, who seems to have the undoubtable insight into which questions will appear in this year’s question paper. The 2.43 min film features many more such humorous characters that one encounters around examination halls. With a comical take on the proposition, ‘Stress Mat Lo, Snickers Lo’, the film offers a much-needed respite to students from the stress that accompanies exam time and guarantees a nostalgic walk down memory lane for the rest. Snickers Exam Bars are available in traditional and modern outlets across India.

To view the film, click here.
Campaign Details
Film Duration
Master Film – 2:43 sec
30 sec edit
10 sec Thumbstoppers
6sec

Creative Agency – BBDO India, Gurgaon
Team credits  
Creative
Josy Paul – Chairman & Chief Creative Officer
Akashneel Dasgupta – Chief Creative Officer
Anunay Rai – Executive Creative Director (Art)
Shinjini Banerjee – Creative Director (Copy)
Sanjay Chakravorthy – Associate Creative Director (Art)
Jagpal Singh – Senior Art Director
Yukti Bhagchandani – Copywriter

Account management

Nikhil Mahajan – Chief Growth Officer & General Manager
Jazryk Kaur Gill – Vice President
Tanushree Paul – Account Director
Kritika Vasan – Sr. Account Executive of Planning
Ravi Bhat – Vice President Planning

Production
BBDO + Full Circle
Director
Gautam Vaze – Director
Producer
Anand Wagle – Full Circle
Krishna KV – BBDO Producer
Exposure (mediums used) – Digital