As America’s #1 antacid, TUMS is well-known for its history of heartburn relief. But now, the product that consumers know and love not only relieves heartburn, but also provides a new cooling sensation. To drive consideration and purchase intent of the new TUMS Chewy Bites with Cooling Sensation, TUMS sought to appeal to millennials. From a business perspective, this target is needed to maintain growth of TUMS. However, millennials are in denial of their heartburn symptoms. While 89 percent of 18-to-34-year-olds have experienced at least one digestive issue in the past twelve months, only half of them have treated it (Source: Mintel 2017 Digestive Health). Instead, they choose to live with their symptoms or modify their diet, and regard digestive issues as a problem of an older generation.
With the goal of enticing heartburn category newbies to try TUMS, the brand needed an engaging campaign that inserted itself into the food-loving millennial culture. Good thing TUMS knew that millennials love their spicy foods. In fact, 60% of millennials identify themselves as “total heat seekers” and 62% describe themselves as “adventurous eaters” (compared to 54% of U.S. adults). However, intense foods can lead to intense heartburn.
Enter TUMS or DARE: a multi-channel challenge to millennials to indulge in the hottest foods they love, then cool down and fight their heartburn with new TUMS Chewy Bites with Cooling Sensation.
To build buzz around the new TUMS product, the brand challenged consumers nationwide to take the “TUMS or DARE” challenge—encouraging them to indulge in the hottest eats, then cool down and fight heartburn fast with TUMS Chewy Bites with Cooling Sensation. Through social content and a one-day Twitter giveaway in NYC, the brand gave consumers the means to take the challenge themselves with an order of free wings and a limited edition pack of the new TUMS product. To drive further awareness of the new product and the challenge concept, the brand also went directly to millennial audiences by partnering with the HOTTEST show on YouTube - Hot Ones - the show with hot questions and even hotter wings! Luckily for the special celebrity guests chowing down on some of the hottest wings, TUMS Chewy Bites with Cooling Sensation was there to help them cool down fast and treat their heartburn.
TUMS leveraged a variety of tactics to promote new TUMS Chewy Bites with Cooling Sensation and bring this cross-channel campaign to life. Through Twitter, the brand gave away on-demand deliveries of the new product plus hot wings to encourage consumers to take the TUMS or DARE challenge on their own. Popular comedic social media influencers also took the TUMS or DARE challenge themselves to encourage their NYC-based followers to participate in the giveaway, and for everyone to try the new TUMS product.
With the goal to drive consideration and purchase intent of its new product, TUMS additionally partnered with Complex to be the official season 9 sponsor of their YouTube series, “Hot Ones”. TUMS branding was featured at the peak of the show with a special “Time for TUMS” moment that appeared as celebrity guests, such as Joe Jonas and Trevor Noah, were really feelin’ the burn! However, this partnership went beyond just logos and helped maximize the reach and impact of TUMS among a unique, millennial audience through branded snapchat ads, custom pre-roll, shoulder content and a seamlessly integrated physical presence at the much buzzed-about ComplexCon.
TUMS or Dare was a huge success. The campaign contributed to a 25% increase in units sold per store. TUMS Chewy Bites with Cooling Sensation reached its peak by selling 7 units per store, every week. The Hot Ones partnership also led to 2.88 billion earned media impressions and the most engaged Hot Ones season to date with 79MM views and 250k engagements.
