Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company

AuthorRebecca Stanfel, Mark Lane, Rayna Bailey, Candicc Mancini
Pages1821-1834

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410 N. Michigan Ave.

Chicago, Illinois 60611

USA

Telephone: (312) 644-2121

Fax: (312) 644-0097

Web site: www.wrigley.com

ALTOIDS CAMPAIGN
OVERVIEW

A British brand of breath mints dating from the eighteenth century and described as "curiously strong," Altoids was purchased in 1993 by Kraft Foods, Inc. Having discovered that Altoids had a cult following among young Seattle sophisticates in the mid-1990s, Kraft tapped the advertising agency Leo Burnett for a 1995 outdoor and print campaign meant to build brand awareness beyond the Pacific Northwest.

The initially modest campaign targeted hip young adults in select American cities, and it gained momentum thanks to a mix of unconventional outdoor placements, ironic humor, and provocative images and text, all of which worked to promote the idea of Altoids' "curious" strength. The success of the outdoor campaign led Kraft and Leo Burnett to take the campaign to print media that included alternative newsweeklies and, later, national publications closely associated with the target audience. The print and outdoor ads used the same images and copy; the campaign's initial ad, featuring a male bodybuilder and copy reading, "Nice Altoids," established the retro look and knowing humor that would remain the long-running campaign's hallmark attributes.

The Altoids campaign was, from 1995 to 1999, one of the most successful in advertising history. During those years Altoids went from being a little-known niche brand with 2 percent of the breath-mint category to being the best-selling mint in America, independent of any product innovations or corporate intervention beyond the marketing campaign. The campaign won numerous awards and was adapted to the needs of new Altoids products in later years. Altoids' sales began to level off in 2002, and the brand pursued further growth through the introduction of still more product lines. In 2004 the brand was purchased, along with other Kraft-owned brands, by Chicago's Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Altoids Mints dated to eighteenth-century London, where the William Smith Co. first sold the white candies as an "antidote to poisons in the stomach." It is legend that, when George III learned that he had lost the American colonies, he first reached for an Altoid. Although Altoids entered the American market in the 1950s, the brand languished in a gum and mint industry dominated by brands such as Certs, Tic Tac, and Breath Savers. Seattle was the sole exception to this trend. The city that embraced grunge music, dark-roasted coffee, and microbrewed beer also consumed a great many tins of Altoids each year.

After Kraft Foods acquired Callard & Bowser-Suchard, it set out to revamp the marketing efforts of the British company. Although Callard had run radio

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advertising that featured former Monty Python comic John Cleese spoofing the mints' British heritage, there had been no concerted effort to promote the brand. According to Steffan Postaer, one of the two Leo Burnett creative directors responsible for the Altoids campaign, "Altoids had always been considered a unique item, but no one had ever put much marketing behind it." Kraft believed that, if consumers were made aware of the Altoids brand and its unique qualities, they would try and enjoy the product. Leo Burnett was given the task of constructing a campaign that would fuel demand by elevating consumer awareness.

TARGET MARKET

The offbeat and laconic humor of the campaign was intended to appeal to a sophisticated, largely urban audience. Both Kraft and Leo Burnett were aware of Altoids' success in the Seattle area, and their market research revealed that the city's progressive, hip, and educated residents were the primary consumers of Altoids. "We knew we were talking to people in the arts; people in show business; executives; people with a college education; people who had made money, people who wanted to make some money, or people who thought making money was crude," said Postaer. "We were looking to reach people who think … not just the random middle section of the culture." Moreover, age was a factor in the original target market. The campaign specifically sought to captivate those between the ages of 20 and 40.

This demographic group was most likely to prefer the stronger flavors of a more potent mint. Kitty Kevin, a food-industry analyst, explained to Minneapolis-St. Paul City Business that "the stronger mint flavor is becoming more popular because stronger flavors in food are becoming popular." As ethnic foods, with their abundant use of garlic, onion, and spices, became more prevalent, a more powerful breath-freshening mint became more desirable. Moreover, as Americans became more accustomed to new food tastes, they wanted more robust flavors in all things, including mints. "Americans have an openness toward food now," said Susan Smith, a spokesperson for the National Confectioners Association, to Tulsa World. "They like ethnic food, spicy food, and lots of high flavors." Furthermore, for a generation obsessed with its weight, three Altoids tablets had only 10 calories and no fat.

Leo Burnett strove to appeal to its target market by capitalizing on the "adult" feel of Altoids. "We have exploited the adult nature of the product," said Postaer. "Altoids are more expensive than other mints, sold where you buy cigarettes, and they look powerful—more like medicine than candy." The explicit humor and the almost stark feel of the ads were purposefully designed to emphasize this aspect of Altoids. Indeed, one ad featured the photo of a leather-clad dominatrix brandishing a Whip alongside copy reading, "Pleasure in Pain." Postaer explained, "We reached our target through the look and feel of our ads."

COMPETITION

The breath-freshener category to which Altoids belonged was a $238 million a year industry in 1997. An analyst reported to Gannett News Service that, although the mint market was substantial, its growth for the most part was "flat and slow." Altoids, however, saw its sales soar. Indeed, according to Brandweek, Altoids "raised the bar for manufacturers … in the breath-freshener category." In 1996 Altoids saw its sales rise 27 percent to reach $23.2 million for the year, and it became the fourth-best-selling brand of mint in America, behind Breath Savers, Tic Tac, and Certs. The Hartford Courant declared that Altoids were "eating into the profits generated by bad-breath-beating titans."

ITS OWN WEBSITE

Kraft Foods dedicated a website to Altoids (www.altoids.com), at which it offered, among other interactive features, free T-shirts to consumers who posted innovative uses for empty Altoids tins. Some of the more creative suggestions included pressing the tin into service as a goldfish coffin, a place to keep a nose ring or guitar picks, or a condom container. As the Altoids campaign matured, one of the website's defining features became an "Ad Gallery" devoted to some of the campaign's most memorable ads.

Needless to say, the industry took notice of Altoids' success and of the concept of "curiously strong mints" that proved to be so lucrative. A flood of potent, premium-priced mints streamed onto the market, all of which, according to Brandweek, owed a debt to Altoids. Not only did Certs, Tic Tac, and Breath Savers infuse their mints with "more flavor," but also, Warner-Lambert—the brand owner of third-ranked Certs—also introduced Certs Powerful Mints with retsyn in 1997. These more concentrated candies were packaged in a horizontal container reminiscent of the Altoids tin and cost 40 percent more than previous Certs products. Warner-Lambert devoted $10 million to advertising its new product, on top of the $20 million already used to promote other Certs offerings. Similarly, the Minneapolis-based Dayton Hudson Corp. released a new line of its

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well-known Frango Mints in 1997. The Frango Purely Powerful Peppermints were small white circular tablets like Altoids, and they came in pocket-sized metal tins very similar to the container so closely associated with the Altoids brand. Also in 1997, Velamints began making Intense Velamints, likewise packaged in small metal tins. Chupa Chups U.S.A. launched a new Smints product accompanied by an advertising campaign that flatly pronounced, "No Smint. No Kiss." Starbucks Coffee and the upscale department store Neiman Marcus also came out with stronger mint lines in 1997 and 1998. Overall, sales of power mints climbed 11.5 percent in the first three months of 1998 alone.

Not only did Altoids face new competition from other mint brands, but it was also challenged by chewing-gum manufacturers, who introduced so-called power gums. American Chicle added Dentyne Ice, a stronger-flavored gum, to its product line. The gum was packaged in flat cardboard boxes that resembled a pack of cigarettes more than the standard foil-and-paper chewing gum ensemble. Fleer Confections came out with small, chew-able mint squares dubbed Arctic Chews. The marketing manager of the company explained the new item to National Petroleum News: "We recognized that there was a not a lot of growth in the gum market, but there was a lot of growth in the fresh breath...

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