This week, Nestle announced it is to launch the first new advertising push for mint brand Polo in a decade.
Nestle will launch a brand spanking new £2.5m online, outdoor and PR driven campaign to “reinvigorate” the brand.
The campaign, created by CHI&Partners, focuses on two types of Polo mint consumers – ’Suckers or Crunchers.”
The brand has been targeted at “medium to light buyers”,which make-up the majority of Polo consumers but are currently only responsible for 27% of sales of the mint sweets. It is these consumers that Nestle feel are more responsive to instore marketing.
The refocus of the campaign plays on emotional reasons for buying the brand by re-establishing its zany, fun and silly ’personality’, rather than more rational thought processes, such as a need for fresh breath, which dominates mint advertising in a highly competitive sector.
“Polo is a truly iconic British brand that consumers love, but consumers haven’t heard from us in a number of years, so we’re going to re-ignite consumer love for the brand by reminding them about the playful mint with the hole through the campaign “Are you a sucker or cruncher?” says a Nestle spokesperson.
The campaign will run nationwide in convenience store and motorway service station locations and on MSN, Facebook and Yahoo online.
Purely For research purposes only, I did purchase a pack of Polos just to see if I was a sucker or a cruncher. I also found out some fascinating things about them!
For example, apart from being a refreshing mint, Polos are said to be able to cure travel sickness if you put your tongue through the hole whilst eating them. I have yet to try this but internet reviews rave about this! They also help aid morning sickness in pregnant women using the same technique!
However, there has always been an urban legend going round that eating Polos reduces the sperm count in males – but I have heard no scientific evidence either for or against this theory…
So I ate a Polo, I was impressed with how mild the mint is (as I’m not a particularly big fan of strong mints) the aroma also left a pleasent smell in my handbag.
Onto the verdict, am I a sucker or a cruncher? Well…. I did attempt to crunch it but it was really hard to do so (I assume it requires strong gnashers!) But then again sucking it till it got thinner and thinner got ridiculously boring so I crunched it near the end of the experience… so what does that make me? A Suurrrruncher?
Perhaps I’m not the correct target for this campaign but at least I now know that not only is a Polo a refreshing mint but also a cure to sickness, and a potential contraceptive…!
Posted on 15 August 2010
0