How Mars rebranded Ben’s Original with a focus on purpose and activism
Ben’s Original’s rebrand and subsequent community commitments garnered the Mars Foods team first prize in the CSR & ESG Business Practices: Brand Activism category of Ragan’s CSR & Diversity Awards.
The murder of George Floyd and the ensuing racial justice movement of the summer 2020 caused many organizations to reevaluate their messaging and branding with respect to racial sensitivity.
For rice dish producer Uncle Ben’s, this meant taking a hard look at the history of the company’s name and its implications in modern-day society. “After listening to thousands of consumers, its own Associates, from around the world — particularly those in the Black community — to understand the inequities associated with the name and face of the Uncle Ben’s brand, in September 2020, the brand announced that 80-year-old Uncle Ben’s brand would become Ben’s Original,” Mars Food writes.
To introduce the brand’s new name, packaging and purpose with sensitivity, the Mars Food team laid out a four-step process.
First, they drove awareness of the new name and purpose commitments in 2020.
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