The Brief

Singapore's National Day is the most auspicious day of the year and an opportunity for brands to wish the country well. We were tasked with driving cut through and making Mentos the most talked about brand on Singapore's most media congested day. All brands vie for the same space in pushing out bland and upbeat 'happy birthday' messages that congratulate the country on being. Well. Singapore. Playing to our legacy of fresh thinking, we set out to break this mould by turning a customary birthday message into an opportunity to inspire a nation into doing something good for their country.

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation

Singapore's birth rate is plummeting and the government is at a loss with how to tackle the issue. As such, we decided to become a part of the debate by encouraging Singaporeans to do their duty in helping to create a new generation of Singaporeans on National Day night - an ownable window of time. A seeded music video stuffed with local innuendo was our message carrier together with bespoke packs. In owning the 'night', club DJ's and the most popular coverbands were given the opportunity to 'freshen' up the song by playing their own version in Singaporean music venues.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

Mentos' birthday message received 29k more views/day than the government's official anthem in the lead up to National Day. It gained coverage on 200+ sites and despite being initially rejected by the press due to 'overly racy content,' all soon embraced it once they saw how well it resonated with the people. Even the ex-Prime Minister made a new population crisis statement the following day. S$736k worth of media value was created. PR value of approx S$2m. Special mint rolls created a 103% sales uplift in August against the same period in 2011 and doubled sales across the portfolio.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

The creative was completely unrelated to the Mentos product, which is where the strength of the idea lies. Mints don't normally play a role in politics. Nor are they known for creating aphrodisiac effects beyond freshening breath. But by creating bespoke Mentos rolls, the product managed to become both a political message carrier, spreading word of our call to arms to get people making babies, as well as a means for people to 'break the ice'- thanks to 2 red mints in the middle of every pack. Mints designed to be shared with one's partner. The embodiment of fresh thinking.