Extra: "SMOKING PROHIBITED, CHEWING ENCOURAGED!" Print Ad by OMD

Advertiser/Client: WRIGLEY'S
Product/Service: CHEWING GUM
Advertising Agency, City: OMD , Dubai
Country: UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Media Agency, City: OMD , Dubai
Country: UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Advertising Agency, City: OMD , Dubai
Country: UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Credit Details:
Name Position Company
Christian Fedorczuk Director Omd
Rami Zeidan Manager Omd
Farah Moumneh Senior Executive Omd
Omar Kfoury Trader Omd

Insights, Strategy and the Idea:
For many years the chomping and chewing of gum in the Middle East has been widely perceived as an unhealthy and impolite habit. Wrigley’s Extra has single-handedly shifted the perception and established itself as a healthy oral care brand that was focused on ‘cavity protection after every meal’. Wrigley’s Extra was looking to extend its brand positioning more towards product benefits such as fresh breath in a bid to establish the brand as a healthy habit. The challenge was to communicate Extra’s new positioning to a core target group of young and middle-aged consumers. The insight was that this audience have a very social and hectic lifestyle that largely takes place in and around the UAE malls. This led us to opt for tactical activations to reach them. In addition, law was passed in Dubai banning all smoking in malls and other public places.

Creative Execution:
We found that the smoking ban instantly created a social phenomenon and an aperture for Wrigley’s Extra chewing gum because hoards of people were gathering outside mall entrances to smoke. Our execution was simply to ride on the back of the smoking ban and position Extra as the ‘healthy alternative habit’. To highlight the ban the government introduced highly visible ‘No Smoking, By Law’ signs at all mall entrances and exits. We cunningly negotiated with the authorities to place similar sized replicas just below the official no-smoking signs showcasing an Extra pack in a green circle that read: ‘Chewing Encouraged: Put Your Habits to Better Use’ The stickers were placed in both English and Arabic all 86 entrances in Dubai Festival City and Ibn Batutta during the Dubai’s summer shopping festival – a peak time for mall visits.

Results and Effectiveness:
With so many malls in and around Dubai and because we activated it during a peak shopping period the campaign reached over 10 million mall visitors in 3 months. This was a phenomenal 90% lower CPP than conventional mupis in the malls. In terms of achieving the objectives of the campaign Wrigley’s Extra’s brand position was successfully reinforced and extended making it the brand advocate for the new No-Smoking-Culture in Dubai. We also managed to put a positive spin on what some describe as a disgusting habit!