Agency/media operation
Bates Canada

Client
Pfizer Canada

Brand
Rolaids (Fruit Flavours)

Budget
$300,000

Media used
Online
Television
In-store

Timing
Fall 2002

Media team
Jennifer Wilson, media planner, Bates Canada
Cheryl Fryer, associate media director, Bates Canada

The background

Although it’s a household name, it had been nearly five years since Rolaids last invested in consumer advertising support, depending instead on its loyal user base and strong brand heritage to sustain share in the upset stomach relief market.

But that market was changing with the launch of new products like Pepcid Complete and the introduction of new flavour and format varieties by Tums, Gaviscon and Maalox. And although Rolaids was winning the front-of-store battle with its rolls format, Tums continued to be the number-one overall player in the market, threatening Rolaids’ share of the bottle format with its wide array of flavour options and calcium promise.

Rolaids needed to quell these competitive rumblings, and so prepared to launch a new fruit-flavour lineup that included Regular Strength Cherry, Extra Strength Tropical Punch and Cool Strawberry – thus delivering against consumers’ needs for tastier ways to reduce heartburn.

Adding a bit of stress was the fact that the dollars available to support this national launch were limited, and there was no existing creative in the Rolaids arsenal that we could use to communicate the news.

The plan

Rolaids needed to memorably re-connect with upset stomach relief users, particularly women 25-44 who had moved to Tums for the variety of flavours and calcium benefits it offered.

Though older consumers could still recall the Rolaids jingle, the younger set had limited awareness of the brand. There was no doubt that getting back on these consumers’ radar screens was going to be a challenge: these women lead incredibly busy lives and face constant demands.

So if the overarching objective was to create excitement and urgency around a brand using the new fruit flavours to drive traffic and stimulate trial, it had to be done in an unconventional but highly relevant and engaging way.

Thus, Bates Canada combined forces with Toronto-based Accumark Promotions Group, CanWest Global, and TVA to develop an integrated consumer promotion that would command consumer interest. To everyone’s relief, this spirited partnership seamlessly extended an interactive premise into television, print and the in-store environment. ‘Roll in the Loot with Rolaids Fruit’ was born!

At the heart of the program was an online spin-and-win game, designed to look like a slot machine complete with the requisite cherries, hosted at canada.com and tva.canoe.com.

Participants had the chance to win more than $100,000 in instant cash prizes and a grand prize trip for two to Bermuda. Entrants were required to name one of the new Rolaids Fruit flavours and enter a UPC code from one of the new bottles in order to play the game. A viral online component allowed entrants to ‘tell-a-friend’ about ‘Roll in the Loot,’ and by doing so, increase their odds of winning.

The interactive game was supported across both host sites with a combination of banners, buttons and skyscrapers. Links to the promotion from the sites’ contest pages were prominently displayed, as were Rolaids logos on the canada.com and tva.canoe.com home pages.

A national FSI was sent to 5.4 million households with a 50-cent redeemable coupon to drive consumers in-store and increase visibility of the ‘Roll in the Loot’ promotion. Once in the retail environment, consumers were again encouraged by dramatic pre-pack displays to enter their fruit-flavoured Rolaids UPC code online for a chance to win.

English and French television support helped to fuel the success of the Fruit launch by heightening awareness of the online game and its in-store components.

CanWest Global developed a 30-second promotional spot that conveyed the mechanics of the promotion and highlighted the great prizes to be won. This spot, along with three 10-second ‘fruit’ bumpers (one for each flavour) aired in the 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. time period during programs such as Friends, Entertainment Tonight and Will & Grace. Target-relevant properties on Prime, DejaView and Mystery rounded out the television exposure, as did five-second ‘dot spots’ driving viewers directly to canada.com to play the game.

In Quebec, Rolaids garnered significant exposure on TVA, the province’s premier regional network. Consumers were invited to tune in to the number-one morning program Salut Bonjour! and watch 10-second ‘fruit clues’ for a chance to win early-bird prizes. Additional 30-second promotional spots running across the full network directed consumers to play the online game.

The results

As a direct and immediate result of the fall 2002 ‘Roll in the Loot’ campaign, Rolaids met all advertising objectives and greatly exceeded financial goals, experiencing unprecedented sales growth and increased brand awareness.

The Rolaids bottle business grew +10% year over year, and the three new fruit flavours stole a 3.5% share of the antacid tablet segment in less than three months.

On the interactive front, a total of 7.3 million impressions were generated by the contest buttons, banners and skyscrapers that ran on canada.com and tva.canoe.com, with a subsequent 81,672 slot machine game plays being logged. A total of nearly 70,000 contest entries were submitted across English and French Canada, significantly exceeding expectations.

As brand manager Elan Packer summed up (with a sigh of relief): ‘After a five-year hiatus, Rolaids is back! The ‘Roll in the Loot’ promotion was key to the success of this launch.’

The judges rave…

‘A fully integrated, innovative campaign that reached the target audience in an exciting, interactive and informative manner.’

‘This plan demonstrates how excellent results can be obtained by using the Internet as a primary, rather than secondary medium.’