Extra peppermint 2014

Wrigley is axing its Orbit brand and making the products part of the Extra range.

The company is also introducing a new look across the entire Extra brand, and will be supporting the activity with a £15m marketing spend including a 16-week TV campaign.

Orbit – which was launched 37 year ago as the UK’s first sugar-free gum - has been in long-term decline, with sales down 12.6% this year to £11.15m [Nielsen 52 w/e 11 October 2014]. Extra, in contrast, grew 8.3% to £203.83m and accounts for 72% of UK gum sales.

While Orbit Complete products will be renamed Extra, the gum itself will not change and will continue to be sold in 14-piece packs at the same rsp of 69p. The existing peppermint and spearmint variants will be joined by two new flavours, strawberry and bubblegum, which Wrigley said were designed to target younger consumers.

“Bringing Orbit under the Extra umbrella and strengthening our soft-chew offering will pave the way for even further growth,” said Wrigley oral care marketing manager Sue Cobbledick. “The trend towards oral care shows no sign of slowing, as chewers seek out a healthy addition to their day to day oral care routine. By bolstering the Extra brand with these new variants we expect to capitalise on this trend and attract new chewers to the category, helping retailers drive sales.”

The rebranded products will be available to cash & carry depots from the last week of December, and will roll out to multiples from January.

A range of POS materials will be made available to retailers to help inform consumers about the rebrand.