Mars said it has hired digital shop imc2 to head all strategic planning, creative and media work for its customized candy unit Mars Direct, as well as for My M&M’s and My Dove brands, brandweek.com reported.

It’s the first time the customized candy division at Mars has selected an online shop to handle its media and planning duties, according to Dallas-based imc2, and it reflects a shift among marketers who suspect the digital world is emerging as the focus of marketing campaigns.

"Our goal in conducting this review was to identify a single firm that could be a partner to Mars Direct regardless of medium," said Jim Cass, general manager of Mars Direct.

Mars, headquartered in Hackettstown, N.J., launched its customized candy business in 2006 with the help of DraftFCB in Chicago. Consumers could visit Mymms.com and choose M&M’s by color and order personalized messages to print on the candy shell. The concept persuaded candy lovers to pay about $9 a pound for M&M’s, and Mars soon expanded its capacity to meet personalized orders as demand grew.

Mymms.com initially handled seasonal messages for birthdays, holidays and special events, but today the business has grown to print logos of Major League Baseball teams on M&M’s, as well as boasting a business-to-business outreach for printing corporate logos on the candy.