Marketing Research
Objective: Describe the five steps in conducting market research
1. Define the Problem:
Does each bag of M&Ms contain the same number of candies?
How many of each color M&M is in each bag?
2. Analyze the situation:
Complete the M&Ms website worksheet.
3. Develop a data-collection procedure:
Get a bag of M&Ms and complete the Data Collection Worksheet
4. Examine and organize information:
Complete the Group Comparison Worksheet
5. Propose a solution
Complete the Solutions Worksheet
M & Ms Website Worksheet
Directions: Use Google to answer the questions below.
History
1. What year were M&Ms first sold to the public?
- 1941
2. How were they packaged?
- In cardboard tubes
3. When the packaging was changed, what was it changed to?
- The brown plastic bags that we see today
4. When were peanut M&Ms first introduced?
-1954
5. Where are M&M candies made in the United States?
-Newark, New jersey
6. What color was added to peanut M&Ms in 1960?
-yellow
7. What does M & M stand for?
-Mars & Murrie
8. The original M&M chocolate candies contained what color mix?
- Red, yellow, brown, green, and violet
9. What is colorworks?
-where you can order a certain color of m&m
10. What is M&M world?
- A store that specializes in m&ms and related merchandise
11. What happened to the original name of M&M plain chocolate candies in 2000?
-the name plain changed to milk chocolate
12. Can you get your school colors?
- Yes
13. What color was originally used for the letters on the M&Ms?
-Black
14. What % of each color do you get in a bag of M&Ms?
Brown=
14
Green=
16
Yellow=
Blue=
14
% Orange=
% Red=
20
13
24
%
%
For the following questions do a google search as well.
1. What are the details of the great color quest?
The company changed all of their m&ms to black and white, removing all other colors. Once a bag that has only
one of the original colors in it, that color is added back into the normal bags. This will continue until all of the
original colors have been found.
2. What company has M&Ms teamed up with for the great color quest?
Volkswagon
3. The M&M Spokescandies were introduced as a form of marketing. Who are they? (List
their names)
RED, YELLOW, BLUE, GREEN, CRISPY, MS BROWN
4. Th e r e a r e g a m e s yo u ca n p l a y wi t h M& M s. U s e t h e i n t e r n e t t o f i n d a g a m e
a n d t r y p l a yi n g i t wi t h yo u r g r o u p . W ri t e o u t t h e n a m e o f t h e g a m e a n d t h e
i n s t r u c t i o n s f o r h o w t o p l a y.
To Speak or Not to Speak
Come up with 10 words that people usually say during a normal conversation. Words like "what," "nice" orfor a devilish
twist"I" work well. Write all of these words down on a whiteboard and display it so everyone can see it. Tell them that
they have to try to have a conversation without using these words. Hand each of them a bag of M&Ms. If someone is
caught saying one of the words, he has to give the person who caught him an M&M. After about an hour has passed, the
person with the most M&Ms in his bag wins.
M&M Data Collection Worksheet
1. How many candies are in your bag (count twice for accuracy)?_
138
2. Count each candy per color and quantity (count twice for accuracy)
Color
Number
9
27
14
30
28
30
Red
Green
Brown
Yellow
Orange
Blue
3. What is the percentage of each color per bag? ((# of color/total)*100)
Color
Percent
Red
7%
Green
20%
Brown
10%
Yellow
22%
Orange
19%
Blue
22%
4. Using Excel, create a pie chart showing the percent of each color M&M. (Use the data in
the first table above). Change the colors of the chart to match the colors of the M&Ms.
Submit the chart to the hand in folder so it can be marked in colour.
Group Comparison Worksheet
Communicate with the members of other groups to complete the table below:
Group
Name
Total in
Bag
% of
Red
% of
Blue
% of
Green
% of
Brown
% of
Yellow
% of
Orange
138
7%
22%
20%
10%
22%
19%
Philvits
group
142
8.5%
19%
24.6%
7%
21.8%
19%
Ellens group
140
13%
25%
24%
8%
18%
11%
Ryans
group
141
7.8%
19.2%
31.2%
12.1%
11.4%
18.4%
Pavneets
group
141
9%
18%
31%
13%
16%
13%
Hunters
group
142
8.5%
23%
22%
8.5%
18%
22%
*m&m
standard
%s
141
13%
24%
16%
14%
14%
20%
Our Group
*m&m % can be found online
Solutions Worksheet
1. Does each bag of M&Ms contain the same number of candies?
-No
2. If the answer to number 1 is no, what is the average number of candies per bag?
-141
3. How many of each color M&Ms is in each bag? (Approximately)
-
9 red
30 blue
27 green
14 brown
30 yellow
28 orange
4. How do the Group results compare to the M&M website results?
- Most of the percentages are fairly close but none match. The only big difference was that our class bags had much more
green than what the website says.
5. Which color is most prevalent?
-yellow and blue
6. Is there a trend or reason for the most prevalent color?
They are natural colors that are appealing to they eye.
7. Which color is least prevalent?
Red
8. Is there a trend or reason for the least prevalent color?
Some people might associate red with ideas that m&ms does not want. It is a very dark red shade which isnt as appealing
as a brighter red.
9. Why do they introduce new colors as a marketing strategy?
To give the people an illusion that there is something new and it might taste different.
10. List any examples of advertisements, TV shows, movies that have used M&Ms (or
specific color M&Ms) as part of the script.
snack.
Lots of Cineplex movie commercials use m&ms in their commercials because m&ms are often associated as a movie
11. If you were marketing a bag of M&Ms what would be your breakdown of each color and why?
I would keep lots of blue and yellow but I would change the shade of red to a brighter more candy associated color and
then increase the percentage of that.
12. What does your group think of the Great Color Quest marketing strategy? (Explain)
We think its a really good idea because people will want to buy more bags in hopes of
finding one of the original colors. Not only to win the car and trip but so that they can be the one
who returns that color to all the bags.
Orange Is Coming Back to the M&M'S Mix; Great Color Quest Consumer Contest Yields First
Winner with Discovery of Bag of All-Orange M&M'S
Feb. 5, 2004
Orange was officially "found" in South Carolina and will be added back to the M&M'S(R) stable of
colors. Black and white since New Year's Eve, M&M'S launched the Great Color Quest consumer
contest to bring back the color, enlisting the support of consumers to find the six all-colored bags
of M&M'S from among the more than 37 million black-and-white packages.
"The M&M'S(R) Great Color Quest contest is designed to give the wonder of color back to the
people," said Doug Milne, senior marketing manager, M&M'S Brand. "While the color orange has
now been found, there are still five colors to go, with full bags of brown, red, yellow, blue and
green M&M'S waiting to be found so that all the colors can come together again."
While the color orange has now been found, there are still five colors to go, with full bags of
brown, red, yellow, blue and green M&M'S waiting to be found so that all the colors can come
together again.
In South Carolina, a life-long fan of M&M'S purchased an all-orange bag at a local store and soon
discovered that she was the first Great Color Quest winner. Consumers who purchase one of the
remaining black and white bags of M&M'S(R) containing candies that are all one color may also
be winners. A total of six lucky winners will receive a 2004 Volkswagen New Beatle Convertible
GLS in the color of the candy they discover, a trip to Los Angeles, and $20,000 in cash.
Each of the M&M'S(R) varieties - milk chocolate, peanut, crispy, almond, peanut butter and minis have turned black and white and are part of the Great Color Quest contest. More information
about the Great Color Quest is available at http://www.mms.com/us/bw/quest/.
