Tic Tac taps Instagram Stories, 6-second bumpers for campaign around sharing

Dive Brief:

• Ferrero brand Tic Tac Gum will debut two new 15-second spots that will air on TV, digital and social media channels, according to details shared with Marketing Dive. 
• The campaign, “Refreshing. Delicious. Fun,” focuses on the idea that the act of sharing can inspire unique and fun experiences. One commercial promotes the brand’s freshmint flavor, while the other highlights the watermelon flavor. 
• The effort includes four six-second bumpers and three Instagram Stories/Facebook feed posts. It is the first created and produced for the brand by Laundry Service, which Tic Tac named its creative agency of record in August 2018. 

Dive Insight:

By expanding the campaign beyond traditional TV commercials, Tic Tac might be able to reach a broader consumer base, specifically younger consumers who are spending more time than ever on their smartphones. Extra short bumper ads are becoming increasingly popular as marketers try to appeal to viewers’ shrinking attention spans, though some creatives view the time constraints as limiting. Still, among consumers, 38% think online ads should be shorter than TV ads, according to Kantar Millward Brown research.

Tic Tac is also embracing Instagram Stories, which is becoming a significant driver of revenue growth for the Facebook-owned app. Brands initially appeared slow to incorporate Stories into their strategies, but that’s changed as Instagram has built out features like shopping actions on the platform. Among sponsored posts by social media influencers last year, one in three was shared in Stories, according to recent Klear research.  

Previous Tic Tac marketing efforts have also centered on social media. Last summer, the brand created two retro, 8-bit styled games for Snapchat as part of a “Chew and Play” campaign, where the act of chewing powers the game. Tic Tac also celebrated its 50-year history last year with a pop-up activation in London, which offered Tic Tac-inspired cocktails, a GIF booth and a mix-and-match station where visitors could create unique flavor combinations.