Tech and candy. Not the intersection you’d expect, but at AfroTech, you’ll always find fresh ideas and innovation. Enter Mars Snacking, the company behind some of America’s favorite treats, like M&M’S, SKITTLES, EXTRA GUM and SNICKERS. At AfroTech 2025, Mars showed conference-goers how the candy maker has progressed far beyond Willy Wonka’s golden ticket strategy. During her interview at the Blavity Stage, “Marketing to the New Consumer with the CMO of Mars,” North America CMO Gabrielle Wesley touched on why understanding audiences is critical, especially when it comes to Gen Z and Gen Alpha. “They don’t necessarily trust brands, they trust people,” Wesley said. “The influencer culture, the creator culture, is what they know. It’s not like they grew up on brand jingles and things like that… They grew up on people that they trust… giving recommendations. They’re loyal to those recommendations, not necessarily to the brands.” So understanding real shopping habits matters more than...