Wrigley’s latest promotional push comes during an exciting time for the gum market. Increasingly sophisticated product innovation has led to renewed manufacturer and consumer interest in the segment. However, promotions must avoid becoming overly scientific, especially in a category where image is so important.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Wrigley is incorporating TV advertising into its £11.2m (US$19.0m) marketing campaign to raise awareness of Orbit Professional’s benefits to dental health. Marketing will specifically focus on ‘microgranules’ contained within the gum, which Wrigley claims will help to clean teeth when chewed regularly between meals.
The product is targeted at busy ‘on-the-go’ professionals eager to maintain a high standard of dental health despite their crowded schedules. This is reflected in the content of the TV ads which feature a female office professional who is desperate to have clean feeling teeth and unsurprisingly manages to achieve this by using the gum.
Orbit Professional was launched in response to a perceived growth in demand among consumers for products that help improve their dental hygiene. The move also reflects Wrigley’s continued efforts to promote product innovation in a hitherto stagnating confectionery sector.
In this climate, the functional confectionery industry is of growing interest to a number of the major confectionery players. Orbit Professional faces strong competition from Colgate Dental Gum, a dental care product that will be rolled out as part of Colgate’s link-up with Nestlé Rowntree to create a range of oral care products.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataThe campaign marks the first television drive for Orbit Professional since it entered the confectionery market in August this year. This is becoming an increasingly common approach in the packaged goods industry as marketers seek to gain ‘word of mouth’ coverage before opting for mainstream TV channels to create a wider appeal.
The campaign should stress the gum’s positive impact on dental hygiene but it must be wary of being overly scientific. Consumer perception of brand image is a major influence on gum purchases, and Wrigley must aim to present credible evidence of the product’s benefits without seeming to make incredulous claims.
(c) 2003 Datamonitor. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without prior written consent. Datamonitor shall not be liable for errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.
