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Perfetti Van Melle Canada has launched a multi-platform campaign in support of the company’s new Mentos Gum products.
The campaign concept centres on the artistic applications of the gum and its blister-pack packaging. The television commercial, for example, shows an artist popping the round gum out of the blister packs to create a large, green-and-white wall mural.
The out-of-home portion of the campaign contains similar imagery, and includes billboards, transit shelters and executions in bars, fitness clubs and restaurants.
The initiative also includes a significant web component, including a microsite, makeartpop.ca, and French equivalent, poptonart.ca.
Visitors to the microsites are invited to use an interactive tool to create their own art using images of Mentos Gum blister packs. Users are also asked to rate their favourite works from those featured in an online gallery. The top 12, as selected by users, appear on the sites’ “12-pack” section.
A viral spin-off of the online campaign allows users to send their artwork to friends and challenge them to come up with their own creations.
Creative for the campaign was developed by Montreal’s Cossette Communication Group in association with its sister agency Blitz Direct Data and Promotion. Fjord Interactive Marketing & Technology created the website.
Shirin Gunny, group account director for Blitz, says the objective of the campaign was to differentiate Mentos Gum from similar products by not playing on social anxieties.
“Everybody’s talking about fresh breath and dating, and we thought we had a fun product without introducing the emotional aspect of things like dating,” says Gunny. “This shows that being refreshing is not just about breath, but also about ideas.”
The campaign also includes a significant public relations push, by Optimum Public Relations of Montreal, which includes a stunt taking place in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver from April 3-5. Over the three-day period, an artist in each market will create a large canvas using the Mentos Gum blister packs. The artists will work live in high-traffic public spaces, with their final creations used in out-of-home advertising.
Mentos Gum, which debuted last fall, comes in Arctic Frost, Cinnamint and Spearmint flavours. The current advertising campaign launched earlier this month.
