Mars Unveils Quirky Aesthetic in Unconventional Campaign for Flagship Gum Brand
Mars has announced the most significant overhaul of its Orbit, Extra, Freedent, Yida brand, the world’s number one chewing gum product, in over 100 years. This shakeup sees the launch of a new Global brand platform, ‘Chew Good’, which repositions Orbit, Extra, Freedent, Yida from an occasional freshening fix to an essential everyday chewing companion that delivers a refreshing and unconventional me moment for consumers in an increasingly chaotic world.
Created in partnership with Team Omnicom and Energy BBDO as lead agency, the Chew Good platform breathes new life into the brand, placing the act of chewing right at its vibrant core. Marking a strategic pivot, the purposeful reimagining of the entire brand journey also includes a fresh visual direction that the brand has dubbed a “Chewtopia”, shot by acclaimed photographer, Hanina. In a departure from previous campaigns, it boasts a disruptive, poppy, quirky aesthetic aimed at captivating and recruiting the next generation of chewing champions; the coveted under 25’s demographic that is the most likely to chew of any age group.
In addition, the CPG giant is rolling out brand new ad copy to shepherd in the new era for the brand. The refreshed creative, a collection of five hero films titled ‘Mind Mouth’, doesn’t get caught up in category conventions. The campaign elevates the brand beyond the expected with a quirky twist on those universally relatable moments when our inner musings take centre stage at the most inopportune moments, like when we are in a meeting, reading in a library or attending a lecture.
“Chew Good, two words that remind us that no matter where you are, or what you’re doing, there’s a simple way to take a bite sized me-moment with Orbit, Extra, Freedent, Yida gum. Because sometimes that’s all you need,” said Alyona Fedorchenko, global gum & mints portfolio VP, Mars Snacking. “And we are completely unapologetic in trying to support that endeavour, it’s what consumers are telling us they want from our brand, and it’s what we intend to deliver, one chew at a time, with the launch of this exciting new platform.”
Josh Gross, chief creative officer, Energy BBDO said, “Gum has always been this thing we chew to be outwardly more confident or attractive to others. But it gets really interesting when you think about what gum can do for you inwardly, especially considering the totally bonkers world we’re living in.”
In addition to the film assets, “Chew Good” will include a collection of brand activations in local markets, streaming radio assets, an AR Snapchat lens, as well as a large suite of social content deployed across Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and more.
The platform will be backed by a bumper media spend of over $50m in the first half of the year alone and comes as Mars reveals that its gum portfolio has returned to pre-pandemic sales levels. The campaign will launch in the UK, Poland, Spain and CEAB across OOH, TV and Digital before being scaled across the rest of Europe, Australia, America and the Middle East throughout 2024. It is slated to run in 70+ markets, including the deployment of hundreds of assets over the course of the next year.
