With its new brand strategy and accompanying campaign, First Energy Gum is focusing on reaching the active adventurous consumer (25-45) who needs a healthy and convenient alternative to energy drinks and coffee. The young start-up from co-founder and Olympic champion Mark Tuitert thus aims to strengthen its unique proposition in the retail landscape.
Led by marketing consultant Jasper Spaargaren (Ex-Unilever, Ex-Heineken/Vrumona) and co-founder and CEO Michael Hekking, First Energy Gum has developed a new brand strategy. In recent years, the company has mainly had to explain what the product actually is and what it does. For example, about the absorption of caffeine during chewing through the cheek mucosa, making the effect noticeable within 10 minutes. And about the amount of caffeine in two gums being equivalent to the amount of caffeine in one cup of coffee or one energy drink. This communication of the brand and product was very functional and unemotional.
"It was time to make a choice. When you suddenly go from e-commerce-only
taken up by all the big retailers in the Netherlands and you're on the shelves next to the big brands, that's quite a leap and requires a different strategy. Then the positioning of (top) sports product is too niche. First Energy Gum is more than just sports performance. First Energy Gum gives you that extra push to stay adventurous. Whether it's on a sporting, business or social level. Small or big. Exploring unexplored territory. It's exciting at times. But it gives a tremendous kick when you've moved forward. Despite the fact that smiles come to our faces at the thought of both small and big adventures, we miss the first push to take action and often put it off." says co-founder and CEO Michael Hekking.
"Building a retail brand takes years and mainly has to do with consistently communicating what you stand for so that people start to recognise you. A strong brand mainly evokes a feeling. After several internal sessions, it soon became clear that the team unanimously felt at home with the Explorer archetype. The explorer, the adventurer. Independent, authentic, curious, daredevil, autonomous, ambitious, explorer and traveller. He follows his own path and motivates others to explore unknown territory. This shifts the brand from 'something in between coffee and energy drinks' to a real domain of its own. From niche in fairly functional sport, to the more accessible emotional world of Stay Adventurous." said marketing consultant Jasper Spaargaren.
From this week, the new pre-roll commercial can be seen on all major national news portals of DPG media, Media House and MannenMedia.
Media production: Eyeforce
Director: Bob van den Gronde
Producer: Cathalijn van Hattem
Camera: Thomas Fibbe
Editor: Timon Taen, Bob van den Gronde
Voice over: Eric Corton
Concept: Michael Hekking, Jesse van der Moolen, Jasper Spaargaren
From next week, the 'adventurous' campaign will start. This campaign is all about winning cool adventures. That could be a parachute jump, abseiling in the Ardennes or mountain biking in the Valkenburg caves. But how cool would it be to win the ultimate adventurous challenge? An adventurous world trip for 2 where you go sand boarding in Egypt, spend the night in a hammock in the jungle of Laos and climb the El Captain in Yosemite park in USA? These prizes will be given away by First Energy Gum in the coming months.
This will be communicated via a 5-second tag-on in addition to the pre-roll video commercial, First Energy Gum's online channels (Website, newsletter, Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, LinkedIn), advertising masts along A-roads and via shop floor display activation. In addition, a team will spend the next six months sampling at relevant events and universities across the Netherlands to familiarise people with First Energy Gum's two flavours. This will be led by Jimmy fieldmarketing.
All marketing materials including the video commercial, tag-on, campaign images, packshots and photos of Mark Tuitert, can be downloaded at this link: https://we.tl/t-PrbxaYUgv9
Availability
First Energy Gum is available at www.firstenergygum.nl and at 500 Albert Heijn shops, 650 Jumbo shops, Spar Express, Spar City, Shell petrol stations, BP Petrol stations and Albert Heijn To-Go.