Swedish Fish provides 100 sweet hits for the holidays
Maynards wants Canadian candy lovers to have a herring little Christmas. As part of its ongoing “Crown your mouth” campaign, the confectionery company – a unit of Mondelēz International – has introduced a holiday-themed online initiative called the “Swedish Fish Wall.”
The site features 100 of the brightly coloured candies presented like the once-popular Big Mouth Billy Bass toy. Each clickable fish is shareable via Facebook and delivers a comedic message in a Scandinavian accent (sample line: “If there’s more fruit than cake in your fruitcake, is it called cakefruit?”).
Maynards is currently promoting the site to its 180,000-plus Facebook followers.
The site is part of an internal strategy that Maynards’ agency The Hive calls “sweet hits,” which emphasizes smaller and more easily implemented ideas that aren’t as reliant on big media buys. “Some might resonate and some might miss, but we’re trying to be a bit more nimble,” said The Hive’s chief creative officer Simon Creet.
While Maynards has created master brand work such as the “Maynards Mouth Chase,” it has also introduced product-specific work for its Wine Gums and Granny Smith products. Swedish Fish is a smaller brand in the Maynards portfolio, but Creet said it has been growing in recent years.
The work is aimed at candy lovers in general, but the sweet spot for Swedish Fish is millennials, said Creet. “We’re finding ways to introduce these offerings to people in a fun way.”
The Hive introduced the “Crown your mouth” approach earlier this year as part of an attempt by parent Mondelēz International to become more digitally focused.
“It’s a reflection of the role these products play in peoples’ lives,” said Creet of the oddball marketing approach. “There’s no real rational, functional reason you should be buying candy – it’s not insurance or duct cleaning. It’s a silly little purchase that’s part of a much more irreverent side of yourself.”
