STRATEGIC CHALLENGE
In 2002, despite having overall leadership of the gum category and a stable of great brands, the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company could not claim to have a true power brand; a brand that dominates the category both in terms of sales and relationship with the consumer. Our mission was to create a brand that would set a new standard, as the most meaningful and involving brand in the category.
With brands like the Juicy Fruit and Extra, Wrigley was well seeded in the hearts and minds of the public they hadn't had big innovation in a long time. Orbit, however, was designed in look, feel and taste) to be that breakthrough product that could change the category. To accomplish this, we needed to carve out a new meaningful proposition and fresh, involving communication to convince teenagers and young adults that this gum was unlike anything introduced over the last 100 years.
Orbit needed to be a gum teens and young adults claimed as their own vs. the one their mom always chewed.
From a business standpoint, Wrigley would win as a company if Orbit could assume a leadership position in the category. Currently the leading competitor held the largest share and enjoyed the highest unaided brand awareness in the category due to its long-running campaign. Thus, we needed to makes sure our message was relevant to a large segment of our key competitor's base consumer and over time we needed to secure these chewers while continuously wooing new teens and young adults.
OBJECTIVES
Orbit's communication needed to trump the rest of the gum category in every way. The holistic communication effort we created had to be more break-through, more meaningful to consumers and ultimately more involving than anything in the marketplace. Lastly, Orbit had to grow at the expense of Wrigley's competition.
To be the power brand in the category, we wanted to lead in the following areas, as these measures were and continue to be the key performance metrics we use to gauge success.
Business Metrics
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Most dramatic, sustained sales and share growth
Communication Metrics
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Achieve the most breakthrough communication via highest ad awareness in the category
Brand Equity Metrics
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Establish the brand in popular culture
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Obtain ownership of “clean mouth” benefit
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Generate highest association with “cool” and “contemporary”
THE BIG IDEA
“Orbit cleans up even the dirtiest of mouths”
Consumer Insight
A key consumer insight was the genesis for the campaign. The prime prospect, 18–34 year old trend-surfers didn't just want fresh breath, they wanted a clean mouth to help them feel put together, confident and at their best at any time. Key to this is they saw a difference between covering up bad breath and the feeling of having a truly clean mouth. As one person said “you can brush your teeth without taking a shower and still feel ok but the opposite is not true.” We saw “clean” as a compelling yet wholly unique benefit that gave us an advantage since our competition was relying on more typical positioning areas such as breath-freshening, dental and long-lasting.
Brand Defining Idea and Campaign
Based on this insight we created a meaningful Brand Defining Idea (i.e. the core of the brand from which the campaign would be built) of a “Clean Mouth Guarantee.” Thus, we knew that whatever we did it had to reassure consumers that no matter what happened, their mouths would be clean. From there, our campaign was born.
Our Big Idea was to demonstrate this guarantee by showing that even the dirtiest mouths can be cleaned up with Orbit. This approach hit hard on the product benefit but was still broad enough to do the heavy lifting of a product announcement, specifically tout the innovation, showcase the packaging, seed the name and do it all in an engaging manner. Further, it had legs to allow for ongoing product innovation news (the key driver of sales in the gum category). Finally, it simply felt different from the competition and delivered the message in a non-dental, friendly way. This strategy continues to be the foundation in which all Orbit communications emanate.
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We brought the idea to life by first exaggerating the problem of a dirty mouth and then finding new and clever ways to clean it up.
The Approach
Prior to the Orbit launch, gum advertising was generally focused on help for the “hookup” or hard-core dental benefits. In general, the communications were void of any memorable personality, style or humor. We saw an opportunity to market Orbit in a quirky, witty manner that would generate powerful consumer involvement and deliver our communications in a unique and stylized feel.
The World of Orbit
Our first step was creating a hyperbolic world, where no matter how dirty people might be or get, Orbit still delivers on its guarantee of a clean mouth. To ensure we stood out, we made the world feel stylish and retro-forward. Additionally we used a sparkling icon named Vanessa, a pseudo scientist/anthropologist who, as the ironic observer of these crazy situations, delivers the pay-off “Dirty Mouth? Clean it up with Orbit – For a Clean Feeling Mouth, No Matter What” while showcasing the product and relevant news. With Vanessa we had an enjoyable thread that allowed us to solve new and different “dirty” situations while providing a consistent voice to the campaign.
Phase I – Literal dirt
The initial campaign featured a lab where test subjects were continually bathed in dirt but found chewing Orbit kept their mouths delightfully clean. From here, the brand continued to use hyperbolic literal dirt scenarios to communicate our message, from equestrians who fall in the mud to man-eating plants that attack individuals.
Phase II – Figurative dirt
Prompted by consumer learning that the idea of “dirty” extended to dirty language, we expanded the definition of a dirty mouth from the literal to the figurative and began cleaning up stereotypical “dirty mouths”. For example, in “Affair” an illicit romance is uncovered and dirty words are “cleaned-up” using silly, non-sensical language.
Phase III – Cleaning up pop-culture
Given our trend-surfer target is highly tapped into whatever is happening in the here and now, in 2006, we embarked on a crusade to “clean up pop-culture.” It was opportunistic way to broaden our mass appeal and there was (and is) no shortage of material. We focused on celebrities known for being dirty – starting with Snoop Dog (in our communications, his dirty mouth was sending him to hell, luckily Orbit is there to save him) and moving on to Steve-0 and Chris Pontius of “Jackass” and “Wildboys” fame (their dirtiest stunts are no match for Orbit). In a highly integrated effort, we demonstrated that even the dirtiest of mouths could be cleaned up with Orbit.
Communications Involvement Strategy
While the Orbit campaign has always utilized layered communications, television has been the key delivery vehicle because it is the target's dominant medium, it allows us to communicate our stylish point of difference and it provides a highly visible forum for our “dirty mouth” demonstrations. However, as we've moved to creating true communication platforms (e.g., clean-up pop culture) digital has become a key element in delivering that experience. Additionally, print has also had a significant role in communicating flavor introductions/messaging while expanding our reach. In 2006, we extended the Snoop Dog TV Spot and the idea that Orbit cleans up the dirtiest mouths online with a microsite that allowed consumers to interact with the brand and share an Orbit “clean it up” message from Snoop with others.
As we continued our quest to clean up pop culture in 2007, we charted new territory by tapping into the ultimate icon of pop culture with teens and young adults-MTV. Due to the hip imagery of the brand and strong connection teens and young adults have with Orbit, MTV allowed Orbit to infiltrate one of their most coveted properties, the MTV Movie Awards. MTV and Orbit created an entirely new award category of the “Dirtiest Mouth Moment from a Movie.” Within the show, Vanessa (Orbit's brand icon) presented the award and Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes, “Jay” and “Silent Bob” of Clerks fame, took the honors. Consumers helped decide the winner by voting on a microsite at www.orbit.mtv.com.
Communications Touch Points
Additional Marketing Components:
Increased distribution due to sales has been an on-going success factor for Wrigley.
Reach: National
Total Media Expenditure:
| Initial Year | Year # 2 | Year # 3 | Year # 5 | Current Year |
RESULTS
Business Metrics
Year on year sales have been the fasted growing and most sustained within the category, with the brand growing 400% since launch and overtaking the leading competitor's share by 2 to 1.
Orbit Share vs. Leading Competitor
Communication Metrics
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Orbit has built the highest level of unaided advertising awareness in the category, with an average of about 22% in 2007 (Brand Monitor Tracking, 2007 Results).
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The brand has excellent traction with its core target and has achieved the highest level of effective awareness to-date of any gum campaign. 94% of adult chewers 18–34 who recognized the advertising correctly identified it as Orbit advertising (Communicus Campaign Tracking, 2007 Results).
Brand Equity Metrics
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Orbit owns the “just brushed clean feeling” benefit, with the highest association in the category at 33% among 12–24 year olds (2006 Brand Fitness Study).
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Orbit has the highest association in the category with “cool to be seen with” among 12–24 year olds, at 35%, almost triple the association as our key competition (2006 Brand Fitness Study).
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The creative has seeped into popular culture with the TV spot “The Affair” generating over 2 million hits on You Tube, while multiple consumer generated versions have also been uploaded.
Anything Else Going on that might have Helped Drive Results?
Through the five years, the brand had to overcome numerous category threats, including copycat flavor and packaging innovation as well as copycat brands, most notably Stride. None of it had much effect as Orbit sales have continued to increase with little loss of base, while new innovation/flavors have continually brought new consumers to the franchise.
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