👉 Background: Mars Wrigley is the multinational manufacturer of food, confectionary and pet products. We're talking brands like Mars, M&Ms, Pods and Maltesers as well as gum brands like Airwaves, Juicy Fruit, Extra and Orbit.

👉 What happened: Mars Wrigley's gum brands have been severely underperforming. Now, it will be investing millions into new gum ads, jumping on society's trend towards mindfulness. Chewing gum can supposedly 'silence anxious thoughts' - we're yet to see the peer-reviewed research.

👉 What else: Mars Wrigley is facing a sticky situation because gum sales peaked in 2010 according to EuroMonitor and just haven’t bounced back. But this new campaign is a major bet for Mars Wrigley because the brand is already so well known for its main value proposition of fresh breath.

What's the key learning?

💡Revamping an iconic brand is like a cover version of a classic song — everyone knows the original too well.

💡The challenge for Mars Wrigley is that they are not changing the packaging, taste or ingredients - just the message. For established brands to bring about new demand in an existing product, it need to shift customers’ perception of the brand entirely.

💡But this isn't impossible. Think back to the late 80's when Harley Davidson was on the brink of bankruptcy. It went from a traditional motorcycle company to become a symbol of rebellion in the US and is now worth a cool $4.5 billion USD.