(an advertising supplement) The Wrigley Company Ltd Estover PlymouthDevon PL6 7PR Tel: 01752 701107 Fax: 01752 795218 E-mail: first name.surname@wrigley.co.uk Website: www.wrigley.com Key personnel Managing Director Dariusz Kucz Sales Director Declan Keogh Sales Operations Manager Chris Foster Trade Marketing Manager Gareth Rule Communications Manager Jo Hartop Key brands Wrigley's Extra (Peppermint, Spearmint, Winterfresh), Orbit (Peppermint, Spearmint, Lemon Fresh) stick Orbit Sweetmint pellet Airwaves (Vapour Release, Soothing Action) Ice White Wrigley's Spearmint Doublemint Juicy Fruit Hubba Bubba soft bubblegum Young gums go for it.. With 26 million people in the UK chewing 1 billion packs a year, it's not surprising that ­ statistically at least ­ Wrigley's gum has become the nation's favourite sweet. Sales topped 400 million packs (£108m) in 2000 ­ an all-time record for a chewing gum product, and for the company, which supported the brand with a £30m promotional spend, including TV advertising, poster sites, sampling campaigns and merchandising at the point of sale Such activity has helped grow the gum market three times faster than confectionery over the last five years, with sales more than doubling in volume since 1990. Total annual UK gum sales now worth £264 million with Wrigley taking a 97% share ­ but then it does own four of the top six profit earning confectionery countlines: Extra Peppermint, Airwaves Vapour Release and Extra Spearmint, placed at one, two and three, respectively with Ice White coming in at number six (AC Nielsen). Brand investment It is now investing heavily in developing innovative brands which deliver additional benefits, including decongestants and dental health. Communications manager Jo Hartop says: "The effect on the market of products offering extra benefits is clearly demonstrated by the launch of Airwaves Vapour Release three years ago. "Its unique vapour release of menthol and eucalyptus immediately created incremental gum sales and went on to grab a 15% share of the UK chewing gum market. "It was a similar story with the 1999 launch of Ice White, with its special formula to help keep teeth clean and white, and with Airwaves Soothing Action honey and lemon, launched in 2000, to help soothe a sore throat. In fact 40% of Wrigley's gum sales are from products less than five years old." Getting their teeth into it Wrigley also continues to drive home the dental benefits of chewing sugarfree gum, after meals and snacks, and regularly introduces new flavour extensions for existing brands, including the flagship Orbit. Orbit Peppermint and Spearmint stick have been reformulated to include the nat-ural ingredient Xylitol, which helps fight tooth decay. At the same time the company has introduced Orbit Sweetmint which also contains Xylitol, but offers the dental benefit in a pellet format. "These announcements strengthen Orbit's positioning as the Wrigley brand which delivers out-standing dental benefits," says Jo Hartop. She adds that the new products will be supported with a "massive" TV and poster campaign. "It will maximise awareness and commun-icate the message that health conscious consumers can now choose their favourite dental brand in either the new pellet format or in the reformulated stick," says Hartop. {{Z SUPPLEMENTS }}

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