M&M'S Global VP on Evolving and Future-Proofing Your Brand

The majority of Jane Hwang’s career has been spent at the multinational corporation, Mars, leading marketing efforts for iconic brands like Skittles and Dove (the chocolate bar) that have been around for generations. However, in her most important role to date, as the Global Portfolio VP for M&M’s, Hwang is thinking more about the cult classic’s next 80 years rather than its first 80 years. An Australian-born Korean living in the U.S., Jane is proud to be leading the way for a brand that celebrates a world where everyone feels they belong, using her opportunity to accelerate those efforts as a lasting force for good. Adweek: What’s something exciting and innovative you’ve worked on recently? Hwang: This past January, M&M’S rolled out a new brand purpose to create a world where everyone feels they belong—a world that is for all ‘funkind.’ Our purpose was designed to remind everyone that, despite our differences, we have an incredibly powerful thing in common as a community: the power of fun. As a reflection of that, fans will notice changes to the brand’s look and feel rolling out across M&M’S content, properties, experiences, and products. What does success look like for that campaign? To further nurture a world where everyone feels they belong, we’ve developed The M&M’S FUNd to provide resources, mentorship, opportunities and financial support in the arts and entertainment space to help ensure people have access to experiences where everyone feels they belong. I love that we’re going to be able to measure the impact of our new purpose, which has a goal of increasing the sense of belonging for 10 million people by 2025. Updating the M&M’S characters to be more inclusive was a risk. How did your team decide that now was the moment to make the changes you did? We know that consumers love our characters and we wanted to make sure we were future proofing them as we look toward the next 80 years and beyond. We took a deep look at our characters–both inside and out–to evolve their looks, personalities, and backstories to be more representative of today’s society. We’ve seen a positive response based on initial testing, with the M&M’S purpose announcement and corresponding makeover to our beloved characters driving the brand’s highest single-day of buzz on Twitter to date, and a massive increase in Google searches for the brand stemming from the announcement. You have to hire for one thing and one thing only. What do you look for? I like to take a candidate out to lunch or dinner, as it can often provide rich insight. I look for a few things: Are they going to complement the team well? Are they polite to strangers or do they end up getting flustered by issues that unexpectedly arise? Can they keep a conversation going? All are incredibly helpful to ensure the person is the right fit for the role, as well as to shape induction plans that set them up for success. What’s something most people don’t know about you? My favorite type of chocolate is white chocolate. Controversial for some, but to my fellow white chocolate fans, I see you! Outside of marketing, what is something that inspires you? As an Australian-born Korean who has lived and worked in five countries in the last 15 years, I am continuously passionate about learning from other cultures and broadening my own perspective. Recently, I have been diversifying my content more, from the music and artists I have been listening to, to the shows I have been watching. These experiences remind me that despite our differences, we are all humans with much in common, even though it might be expressed in different ways. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? Be you and nothing else. Tell your truth and be the version of leadership that you want to see. What’s your top binge-worthy show of all time? The US version of ‘The Office.’ It makes me laugh every single time! What one question would you ask the marketing community and why? How are you driving your brand for the future? As business leaders, we have to continuously balance the needs of consumers of today alongside the transformational bets for consumers of the future, 50 years from now. Acknowledging the need for both, however, is critical to ensure we are meeting the needs for generations to come.

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M&M'S Global VP on Evolving and Future-Proofing Your Brand

Jane Hwang Dishes on the 80-year-old brand’s new purpose and character refresh

Matt Kerbel

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Matt Kerbel