In the spring of 1891, William Wrigley Jr., founder of Wrigley, came to Chicago to do business. He gave away two sticks of gum with each can of baking soda, and found gum was very popular. So he commissioned the Zeno Manufacturing Company in Chicago to produce gum, and bought the factory in 1911. From 1914, Wrigley products entered China from factories in Chicago and Australia. During World War II, Wrigley gum became a military supply for the U.S. armed forces, temporarily leaving the civilian market and also leaving mainland China. It was not until 1981 that Wrigley cooperated with China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Import and Export Corporation to supply 'foreign-related places' and Friendship Stores in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Dalian and Xiamen, marking the beginning of Wrigley's 'return' to the Chinese market.
Returning to China, starting with educating the market In the 1980s, an open China embraced all kinds of new things. Bell-bottom pants and aviator sunglasses were standard for young people. Influenced by American blockbusters and basketball stars, chewing gum, shrugging, and Jordan-style tongue-out were also fashionable Westernized behaviors. If there was an American food as popular as Coca-Cola in China, it would be Wrigley's Doublemint gum. But in an era when the average worker's salary was only about 30 yuan, a five-stick pack of Doublemint priced at 1.5 yuan was a luxury, and required foreign exchange certificates to purchase. In 1984, a photo of a Chinese person holding a Coca-Cola appeared on the cover of Time magazine, a strong signal that China was opening up to the world. Facing this vibrant market, Wrigley was no longer satisfied with just supplying foreign-related places. The pure import model limited the company's further development, and building a factory in China had always been on the minds of senior management. In 1989, Wrigley established a wholly-owned enterprise in the Guangzhou Economic Development Zone. It was not until 1993 when the factory went into production that the most well-known Wrigley product, Doublemint gum, achieved local production, marking an important step for Wrigley into emerging markets. When Wrigley first entered China, there was no gum category in the market. Returning to China, Wrigley took on the roles of 'pioneer', 'educator', and 'leader'. Wrigley is an old FMCG company that started with marketing. In 1907, during the U.S. economic crisis, founder William Wrigley Jr. mortgaged all his property and spent $250,000 to buy $1.5 million worth of advertising for promotion. This 'win or lose' gamble immediately brought Wrigley products into the sight of consumers across the U.S. Similarly, in the Chinese market, Wrigley invested huge advertising expenses every year for the first 10 years to educate consumers, which proved effective in building brand awareness. But more importantly, Wrigley's meticulous channel management also became a model for other companies to learn from.
The power of the bicycle team With the deepening of China's reform and opening up and the opening of 14 coastal cities, Wrigley started from Guangdong Province in 1988, gradually covering the Pearl River Delta, and then radiating to provincial capitals. The company hired many part-time merchandisers to distribute products. They went door-to-door to promote Doublemint to stores, emphasizing 100% mint and fresh breath, and provided six-corner racks and simple promotional posters. Interestingly, the 'army' at that time was equipped with bicycles. According to media reports in 1989, China had over 500 million bicycles at the time, making it the world's largest bicycle country. The initial Wrigley sales team fully utilized the advantages of compact packaging and easy distribution of gum products, using bicycles to build sales channels, transporting boxes of Doublemint gum to streets and alleys, marking the first step of Doublemint's distribution channel going deeper and further. According to rough estimates from frontline sales staff, they each rode about 30 kilometers per day for restocking and delivery, with an annual riding distance of about 10,500 kilometers, equivalent to the distance from Beijing to San Francisco. In the early 21st century, Wrigley China had about 900 bicycles serving the sales of Doublemint gum, which meant that all bicycles left ruts of up to 9,450,000 kilometers in a year, equivalent to circling the equator 235.8 times.
Establishing the concept of channel classification management But merely distributing products was not enough to achieve sales targets; Wrigley attached great importance to distribution efficiency. The Chinese market was huge and fragmented, with various business formats, including national retail chain giants, mom-and-pop stores, non-chain convenience stores, and even small stalls. These formats were distributed across as many as 2,300 large, medium, and small cities, and more than 20,000 suburban counties. Since gum is an impulse purchase, how to place the product in the most prominent position was a challenge for channel staff, and maintaining product freshness was crucial, so establishing and maintaining relationships with distributors was vital. Due to the chaotic channels, the company's first task was to classify them into traditional channels, wholesale channels, and modern channels. Modern channels included hypermarkets, supermarkets, and chain convenience stores, characterized by checkout with cash registers and self-service; traditional channels included various mom-and-pop stores, postal savings newsstands, and non-chain convenience stores; wholesale markets included markets dominated by various food and commodity wholesale formats. Wrigley selected channel strategic partners based on the sales area and business format of retailers, and adopted a strategy of 'grasping the big and letting go of the small'. For national retail chain giants and hypermarkets, Wrigley negotiated and supplied uniformly at the company level, designing uniform distribution standards, which reduced negotiation costs. For regional-level formats, they were left to regional managers, which on one hand reduced cross-regional transshipment, and on the other hand allowed timely tracking of regional product dynamics, getting closer to consumers. This system was later imitated by many food companies. In 2009, the School of Economics at Yangzhou University conducted a two-month survey on Wrigley's distribution capability in five cities in Jiangsu Province, selecting 170 stores, 2,354 checkout counters, 86 main shelves, and main aisles of each store as distribution points. The results showed that Wrigley products occupied 75.9% of the market's distribution resources, while the two gum brands in the second tier could only look on helplessly.
The science of in-store display Another aspect that the industry learned from Wrigley was the skill of distribution. Don't think that just putting gum on the shelf will make people buy it. This impulse purchase category needs to surround consumers' senses from multiple angles such as color, display area, and images to create consumption stimulation. How Wrigley did in-store displays also became a vivid marketing lesson. Consumer research found that 49% of consumers completed gum purchases at the checkout counter. Products that can trigger impulse purchases at the checkout are those with high brand awareness, universal appeal, appropriate price, and small size. Therefore, among all categories, candy ranks first in impulse purchases at the checkout, and gum ranks first in the candy category, contributing over 80% of sales of candy products at the checkout. In addition, when consumers shop in malls, the main shelf in the candy section is a must-pass area, and 41% of gum purchases are made at the main shelf. To this end, Wrigley first seized the checkout channel, and second, used effective display and multi-point display. Effective display emphasizes that when brands are displayed together, they are not only placed proportionally, but also emphasize neat color blocks with visual impact, providing informative carriers that allow consumers to identify at a glance and make decisions in a short time. Usually, products with good sales are placed closest to consumers, requiring them to be within the line of sight. The display space for products should also be larger than competitors, using multi-point display, with dump bins and different shaped end caps to attract consumers. The meticulous management of channels has enabled Wrigley's sales to cover more than 800 Chinese cities today. In addition to supermarkets, it has also opened up channels such as internet cafes and KTVs, with more than 2 million sales points in China, and a sales coverage rate of over 90%. In Shanghai alone, there are 30,000 sales outlets. This precise and vast network has built Wrigley's core competitiveness. By 1997, Wrigley had the largest market share in the gum category in China. Since 1999, China has become Wrigley's second largest global market after the U.S. According to Nielsen market research, Wrigley's brand awareness was as high as 99.1%. Although the per capita annual consumption of 10 pieces of gum in China at that time was far behind the U.S. per capita of 160 pieces, this market with a scale of tens of billions already had considerable imagination, and naturally attracted competitors.
Deepening roots in China, changing with the market 'Simple Pleasures, Bright Smiles' is Wrigley's corporate vision. Since the late 1980s, because Wrigley's Doublemint entered China earliest and is the most well-known, its advertising and marketing have become a microcosm of Chinese social changes. It interprets simple happiness in different ways in different eras. The Doublemint that returned to China also adhered to its 'fresh' characteristic, and further, through careful observation of Chinese society, it captured a subtle emotional connection point, upgrading the functional feature of 'fresh' to a broader social need. Brad Cole, brand director of Doublemint, introduced that in the early marketing period, Doublemint's positioning always adhered to its function, namely 'fresh breath'. As consumer needs changed, Doublemint added the emotional function of 'connection' to its brand positioning, establishing an emotional bond between people. Like the double mint ingredient, Doublemint also began to use dual functions, interpreting them in various ways as times changed. Change and innovation started with product appearance and packaging: originally, Doublemint sold five-stick strip gum; from 2002, 'Doublemint' launched extra strong mint gum. In 2005, it launched pellet gum, enriching the product line with new packaging. From 2006 to 2010, 'Doublemint' successively launched mint candy products, including strips and bottles. In 2009, 'Doublemint' launched lemon grass mint flavored gum in five-stick packs, and launched sugar-free mints in original mint and spearmint flavors. It changed products and packaging in line with consumer trends. While Doublemint continuously innovated products, marketing also kept pace with social changes, seeking creative ideas that fit target consumers. At the beginning of 2012, the Chinese gum market was crowded with brands. Apart from the first-tier Wrigley brands, in the second tier, foreign brands like Lotte and Orion were growing rapidly, while Cadbury, Warner, and Perfetti Van Melle were catching up. Chinese local brands like Yake, NBA, and Hua'aikang were rising. In some third- and fourth-tier markets in the mainland, local Chinese brands had already bitten into Wrigley's share, entering the second tier. The gum market went from one dominant player to a Warring States era, with new brands constantly creating new functional points and new fashion trends. Wrigley's marketing has always been strong. From the initial Western-face ads to idols loved by Chinese consumers, Wrigley has caught every pulse of society. Angela Chang, Yi Jianlian, Zhou Xun, Xu Wei, and Jam Hsiao have all appeared in Doublemint ads, but competitors' ads and product appeals were also strong. For example, Stride, leveraging the Happy Boys competition, quickly carved out a position in the market. Facing increasingly fierce competition and covetous rivals, Doublemint, while adhering to its 'fresh' brand trait, tried to explore a unique Chinese sentiment.
One day, the then general manager of Wrigley China received an email from a deputy manager surnamed Zhang in the quality inspection department of the Guangzhou Yonghe factory, a subsidiary. He mentioned that without increasing advertising revenue by a penny, just one sentence could increase Doublemint's market share by at least five percentage points, but he needed to say it in person. The general manager met with Deputy Manager Zhang the next day. He mentioned that Doublemint must develop a social function. Just as Chinese people like to offer a cigarette when meeting, Doublemint could have such a function. If a young boy meets a pretty girl and wants to strike up a conversation, he could offer a piece of Doublemint gum and say, 'Let's be friends.' The function of gum is not only to keep breath fresh, but also to become a social medium and a conversation starter.
In 2013, Doublemint invited Mayday to endorse the brand and launched the new slogan 'Let's be friends', which quickly became a social buzzword. On social platforms like Renren, Douban, and Weibo, many Mayday fans organized #Let's be friends Mayday fan meetups#. At gatherings, people took out Doublemint to greet each other, saying 'Let's be friends!' On the eve of Qixi Festival, big V users on Weibo quietly added the tag #Let's be friends#, and this social buzzword quickly spread from Mayday fans to the general public, becoming a hot topic and causing a craze among young students. In 2013, Doublemint's sales increased by 1.5 billion yuan, and its market share quickly rebounded to 91%. When summarizing this marketing campaign, Brad mentioned that the phrase 'Let's be friends' was more clever in expressing the two functions of 'fresh' and 'connection' than previous campaigns. 'We believe people have a desire to connect, whether it's a 'hello' or other ways.' But shy Chinese people sometimes need a little help to break the ice, and Doublemint is such a tool. As for what happens next, it depends on people's inner desires. Thus, Doublemint's social function and social scenarios were continuously enriched by people's imagination online. The video of Weibo celebrity @Hanfantong singing for Angelababy eventually got a response from the idol with #Let's be friends# thanks to Doublemint. To make this friendship experience simpler and more fun, Doublemint later printed short friendship phrases on product packaging to help consumers start communication anytime, anywhere, and attracted more consumers through interesting online activities. This marketing also made Doublemint realize that product function is no longer a one-way statement from the manufacturer, but more needs to be experienced by consumers themselves, expressing opinions through interaction, and enhancing participation. The way of communication is undergoing tremendous changes.
In 2014, Doublemint launched the campaign 'Don't wait for Wi-Fi to communicate'. This was an opportunity for cooperation with Tencent on the WeChat platform, and Doublemint won this opportunity. By scanning the QR code on the gum packaging, consumers could get up to 50MB of mobile data for free.
The WeChat platform valued Doublemint's 2 million distribution channels nationwide, which almost covered Chinese users without dead ends. The activity of scanning QR codes to send data could bring a large number of WeChat users, and after scanning the Doublemint barcode with WeChat, users could enter an interactive experience. Doublemint also launched 'WeChat emoticons' to serve as a bond between people. During the activity, the tough girl Jia Ling also appeared in WeChat, connecting with the TVC ad 'Don't wait for Jia Ling to make a move', doubling the joy. The result was that in the first month of the campaign, nearly 2 million people participated, generating nearly 400 million media exposures, and ultimately sending out a total of 970W MB of data. Starting from a barren land, in 2014, Doublemint's sales in China reached 100 million boxes. From 2012 to 2013, per capita annual consumption was 40 pieces. Now, just after its centennial, Doublemint has for the first time unveiled its new brand visual and announced a comprehensive upgrade of product packaging. Doublemint has embarked on a new century journey, emphasizing a fresher and more novel feeling, helping to bring people closer, and letting 'you and me start fresh'.
Wrigley's in-store display also became a vivid marketing lesson: effective display emphasizes that when brands are displayed together, they are not only placed proportionally, but also emphasize neat color blocks with visual impact, providing informative carriers that allow consumers to identify at a glance and make decisions in a short time. As consumer needs changed, Doublemint added the emotional function of 'connection' to its brand positioning, establishing an emotional bond between people. The Mayday series of ads highlighted this core emotional need of social connection.
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