Why is this work relevant for Media?

The Gum category had lost its attraction to Chinese post 90s youth to alternative snacking choices, coupled with the loss of convenience sales channels with the rise of online commerce and covid travel restrictions effecting what was left of sales!. Extra as the category leader needed to build relevance, reverse decline and fight for its future! Extra; Getting China Chewing again was a one hundred percent social and short video media campaign to regain this cultural relevance!

Background

Extra, a brand built on providing consumers with “confidence” faced unprecedented business headwinds. Total Gum Penetration dropped from 71.6% to 41.1% over the period 2012 to 2021. The Gum category had lost its attraction to Chinese post 90s youth to alternative snacking choices, coupled with the loss of convenience sales channels with the rise of online commerce and covid travel restrictions effecting what was left of sales!. Also, emerging oral care products had been grabbing market share with the functional benefit of "fresh breath" so Extra needed a rethink as the gum category leader in order to stave off disaster.

Describe the creative idea / insights (30% of vote)

The current Gen Z consumers have grown up naturally much more confident than older generations in China. Therefore, our previous communications focusing on “boosting confidence” no longer resonated. Consumer research corroborated this thought, that gum chewing was less about adding confidence and more about regaining their own unique “vibe, personality and coolness” under the uncertainty and stress of daily life. We therefore wanted to bring back a simple product truth into mainstream culture – people who chew gum just look cooler.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Chew to get your MOJO back. We took an innovative & appealing to youth strategic approach by focusing on the act of chewing – “MOJO: 嚼出我的范(people who chew, have vibe, personality and coolness”. Every time you chew gum, you get your MOJO back. Partnering with key social platforms we wanted to get Chinas Gen Z chewing again – together! We made a breakthrough in rewriting our media approach, from traditional OTV to a 100% social & short video approach. We leveraged this new media mix to ensure reach sufficiency. In addition, we enabled easy-to-play expressions of “MOJO” via core media activations including building social buzz on Weibo, amplify social content on Bilibili and engagement activities in the Douyin ecosystem.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

As the first ever trial on Douyin, we leveraged advanced technology to detect consumers chewing action on uploads, push effects that allow people to express their personalities and coolness, and collated all user generated content for celebrities and KOLs to amplify; getting China to chew their MOJO back. We fully leveraged social platforms and engagement to build youth brand image and preference. Extra was the first to trial Douyin challenge/sticker and livestreaming, and hit top1 engagement of FMCG category. In addition to online activations, Extra also synergized with Eleme IP (food delivery platform) to build offline support.

List the results (30% of vote)

Offtake Uplift +17.1%, +7.1% vs. planned +10% in Mar-May offtake vs. YA. Media ROI from 2.06 → 2.16, uplift 4.9%. More penetration uplift 0.4%, vs. 2020P8-P9; Short Video and Social effectively converted new buyers. We achieved 1.6 Billion challenge viewership (ranked top 10% of all Douyin challenge brands) and 315K sticker participants, Achieving top engagement amongst FMCG category. More importantly We got China chewing again!