Wrigley’s 5: Creating Sen5es

Nov 01, 2009 by Ewa Evans

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Creating Sense5 was a campaign to launch Wrigley 5 gum and create desirability for the brand comprising of a talent search and event to reach style-conscious experience-seekers aged 18-25 yrs old.

5, a premium gum, takes inspiration from the five senses and through its flavours Cobalt, Pulse and Electro, delivers a sensorial experience. Golin Harris, Wrigley’s PR agency was tasked with launching 5 gum in a way that resonated with the audience by giving them an element of control over the event and inviting them to define sensory stimulation.

Amplify worked with Golin Harris to develop a youth ‘creative entrepreneur’ talent search based on creativity and the five senses. Judged by an industry panel it gave weight to the search, adding kudos and credibility whilst reaching out to the target audience.

Golin Harris secured a media partnership with VICE magazine to launch the search. VICE called for creative genius in all forms including mixologists, designers, photographers, artists, bands, DJs – anything that could cleverly stimulate and exhilarate the senses with flair, imagination and individuality. The five winners of taste, touch, smell, sight and sound, would go on to become an integral part of the launch event, produced by Amplify, and its creative curation.

Along with audience participation, Golin Harris wanted a headline artiste, such as Santogold or Ladyhawke to spearhead the campaign. By curating the event and being part of the judging panel the artiste became an integral part of Creating Sense5 rather than using their celebrity to badge the event.

Amplify brought Hot Chip onboard to leverage their renowned reputation for working with other culturally interesting artistes. As one of the UK’s most inventive, credible and multi-disciplinary bands, Hot Chip had the right credentials to spearhead a believable and engaging talent search. As part of this role they judged the sound category of Creating Sense5, picking The Penny Serenade as their winners who joined the band’s line up for the event. Hot Chip also added value to the campaign by supporting it with blogs on their website, Facebook and MySpace and by taking part in a series of interviews with media.

The finale came together at The Arches, SE1, a venue chosen by Amplify for its edgy, cavernous spaces that conveyed the sense of exploration and provided the ideal backdrop to house the VICE winners and their exhibits. Within the venue Amplify used brand colours and projections to subtly convey messages, rather than heavy use of the 5 logo.

750+ guests, a young, eclectic and adventurous crowd, entered the event via the terrace, where they received their glow stick drink tokens in brand colours and were greeted by Sharon Crew’s Touch Wall.

Arch 1 hosted the bar, branded projectors and the abstract art video by sight winner Rob Hawkins. Within this space Amplify created a sleek yet quirky 5 Bar where guests could get free packets of 5 gum after they’d tried the sample sticks handed out by the 5 gum hostesses, styled in black and neon to fit with the brand colours.

The bands and DJs performed in Arch 2. Hot Chip performed a special 90-minute DJ set, a coup for Wrigley as the band have limited their performances in 2009 to gear up for their forthcoming album release. An even bigger surprise was Kano making a guest appearance, MCing whilst Hot Chip DJ’d, an extension of their recent collaboration in the studio. Friends of Hot Chip also joined the line up including Get Physical’s Parisian duo Noze, extraordinary audio/video performance artiste Planningtorock from Berlin and Raf Daddy, resident DJ at Greco Roman, Joe of Hot Chip’s club night.

The Orchard was a secret room in Arch 3. A fantasy world hosted by winners Robin Fegen (Smell) and Alan Stockdale (Taste). The Orchard was beautifully lit and scented and featured fake blossom trees with hanging marshmallow apples and meringue mushrooms made by Robin, Alan captured people’s reactions when eating the fruit on camera and broadcast the visuals against ethereal backgrounds that were then projected in Arch 2. The Orchard became the surprise hit of the night.

Visit Creating Sense5 at VICE here.