Bubble's Back - Dubble Bubble - Industry Overview - Statistical Data Included

Brandweek, Feb 5, 2001 by Mike Beirne

Dubble Bubble, that old-fashioned chunky bubble gum in the pink, yellow and blue wrapper, had lost quite a bit of its original pop. Well past its glory days of the post-World War II era, the former Fleer brand had begun a decade-long dive starting in the 1980s. Then Concord Confections, Ontario, Canada, bought "America's Original" from Marvel Entertainment Group in August 1998.

"It was a brand in decline," said Paul Cherrie, Concord's svp-worldwide sales and marketing. "So when we got it, we likened the acquisition to a cardiac patient, and the minute we closed the purchase we got it on the operating table for major surgery. The good news is there was enormous brand equity there. It just needed to be dusted off."

The process of dusting off the nostalgic brand culminated last April with the Dubble Bubble National Bubble Blowing Contest, held at more than 2,500 Wal-Mart stores. Nine-year-old Adam Feagley of Tampa, Fla., won fame, a trip to Disney World and a $10,000 savings bond by puffing a 17-inch whopper during the championship round at Wal-Mart's annual meeting in May. Dubble Bubble, meanwhile, drew national print coverage and spots on The Today Show, The Early Show and Fox & Friends. The buzz helped push Concord's gum sales in drug, grocery and mass outlets up 182.5% by June in a category that declined 2.6% over the same period, per Information Resources Inc.

Granted, Dubble Bubble has less than 2% market share: $6.1 million in the $507.2 million gum category. But the story of how a company with a shoestring budget and no consumer advertising was able to include itself in the No. 1 store's "retailtainment" philosophy and boost its sales is a smart marketing tale.

Dubble Bubble is arguably one of the world's most recognized candy trademarks, having been sold in 55 countries during its heyday. Yet the awareness wasn't with six- to nine-year-old children--the core of the bubble gum-buying public--but rather with adults who remembered the pink sweet and spicy penny confection from their childhood. So Cherrie replicated a strategy from his General Foods days with Jell-O, targeting gatekeeper moms who longed to share a part of their heritage with their children. First up, though, were wholesale and retail buyers.

"We had to go hard at people who remembered Dubble Bubble from their childhood and its glory days," said Cherrie. "Everyone I crossed paths with had a Dubble Bubble story, and the important thing we could do was remind the trade that their connection with the brand was the same connection mom had with the brand. Moms are an important gatekeeper for bubble gum purchases, particularly [in] certain channels like mass merchandise and grocery where mom is more apt to buy multi-pack configurations."

Double Bubble came into mom's purview by rolling out bags in 6-oz., quarter-pound and three-pound packages. "I think if we pushed hard at kids, we would have been pushing water uphill," said Cherrie. "We would have had to recreate a brand to a bunch of kids where there was no equity at all. The more sensible thing was to use the equity that was there and leverage it. We did it by trying to backdoor our way to the kids. Because once the product was inside the home, they got it."

Concord has since launched more new products than the brand had seen during the previous 20 years. Among the offerings: Dubble Bubble Mega Mouth, a two-inch gumball; and Duos, twist-wrap pieces combining classic Dubble Bubble gum with fruit flavor in the center, including red hearts for Valentine's Day and yellow bunnies for Easter. The company even went retro with Dubble Bubble 1928, which featured the original formulation and packaging--including comics with the signature character Pud. That extension was a response to adults yearning for the nostalgia they grew up with, Cherrie said.

But blowing bubbles was at the heart of Concord's effort to reach kid consumers. To Cherrie, nothing was more inherently fun than blowing bubbles, and he wanted Dubble Bubble to own that activity It was, in his view, more important than taste or texture, and it would be the brand's point of difference. "There are a lot of things that taste great, but try blowing bubbles with a chocolate bar," he said.

The idea was not new Fleer had a nationally televised bubble-blowing contest back in 1954, complete with marketing props like the official Dubble Bubble calipers for measuring. But the bubble-blowing gimmick took a backseat when the brand began to fall off. Looking to boost its profile, Concord hired Deborah Salmon, principal of pr firm Salmon Borre Group, Chicago.

In the fall of 1999, Salmon struck a deal with producers of the Rosie O'Donnell Show. A Dubble Bubble desk was commissioned featuring a photo cutout of the talk show host blowing a bubble, as well as a bubble gum launcher that catapulted a piece of gum to the guest sitting next to her. During the show's opening segment, O'Donnell lobbed gum to her guests, actresses Madeleine Stowe and Julianne Moore, and challenged them to a bubble blow-off, O'Donnell won with an 11-inch bubble as measured on-air by the Dubble Bubble meter.