Case Study: 5X Mutant Gum

click to enlarge

Wrigley's 5 Gum inhabits a dark fantasy world, similar to those of Halo and The Matrix. This is to make 5 appealing to explorers - the imaginative and adventurous, aged 14-29, who crave discovery and new experiences. 5's share of the Australian gum market stands at 20% since its launch in 2009. Wrigley's aimed to increase this share to 25% by creating a more immersive and engaging brand, and to involve explorers more deeply in the world of 5.

Wrigley's wanted to extend the idea of the 5 Gum fantasy world, which had only been dramatised through TVCs. They decided to use a variety of media channels in order to engage the youth market. The brand researched the psychology of explorers and found that every explorer has an alter ego. The alter ego is the imaginary version of themselves with unique powers which exist only in their mind.

Using this insight Wrigley's partnered with 20th Century Fox and X-Men First Class. They combined the fantasy worlds of 5 and X-Men together to create the world of 5X with a new 5 flavour, 5X Mutant Gum.

On-pack call to action
The 5X Mutant Gum packs went on sale across Australia and New Zealand, with an on-pack call-to-action driving explorers to a micro-site where they could create a mutant alter ego. The website offered different mutant designs, including, body shapes, outfits, masks, and weapons. Consumers could then battle other mutants, by viewing profiles online and strategically selecting opponents to try and become the most powerful mutant.

Every pack of 5X contained a unique code which unlocked exclusive powers. This drove repeat purchase as players wanted for special powers which no other mutant had. The battle results were displayed on a real-time scoreboard, and players across Australia and New Zealand fought to win a range of major prizes, which were promoted via an extensive 5X in-store campaign.

An integrated advertising campaign for 5X surrounded the release of X-Men First Class in May and June 2011. Cinema, television, digital broadcasting and high-impact digital formats raised awareness of 5X. Branded TV content plus digital editorial integration told the deeper 5X story. YouTube video keyword search plus an extensive in-store campaign also drove explorers to the micro-site, 5XMutantGum.com. The brand also ran activity on the Facebook page for 5 Gum Australia and New Zealand. This included weekly prizes for the most liked mutants, 'Hot Or Not?' mutant polls, and exclusive X-Men First Class content.

Results
41 621 mutants created and 490 096 battles fought.

263 109 site visits, 4 339 459 page views, 6min 34sec average session time, 16 000 visits were longer than 30 minutes, 19 000 visitors returned over 50 times, 39 000 visits viewed over 20 pages.

Total fan engagement: 28 795 hours = 3.29 years.
64 000 new Facebook fans, this took total 5 Facebook fans to 373 000 and made 5's Facebook community the 6th largest Australian Facebook brand community at the time.

The most powerful mutant Aphrodite battled 20,595 times = 4.8 days game play, 5X fan Samantha Poole purchased 179 packs of 5 containing unique codes.
5X was the #2 selling gum in Australia in June 2011. It was beaten only by the mass-market Extra spearmint, an exceptional result for a limited edition youth-focused product.

5X drove 5 to its best-ever Australian market share, 26.5% - from 21.1% immediately prior to 5X's 1 May launch.