Mentos is a household brand in so many countries and they have 13 million fans on Facebook. But the candies are an analog product - they can only be shared person to person, physically. As our world becomes increasingly digital and increasingly global, we needed to find a way to turn this physical piece of candy into something our digitally-savvy teenage audience will connect with. Being an impulse purchase makes this even more important, as we need to be top of mind when our audience are out and about.

We created a series of launch films that introduced each ementicon to our 13 million fans on Facebook and YouTube. By illustrating the emotion as non-verbally as possible, and meticulously matching the 2D designs onto the 3D head, everyone around the world could easily understand what each ementicon meant. We also took advantage of certain days where people talk about certain feelings, releasing ‘Awkward’ on Valentine’s Day and ‘FOMO’ on New Year’s Eve. The films directed fans to download ementicons and start using them in their own messages.

In its first month, ementicons has become one of the most successful digital campaigns Mentos has created, with 1.3 million film views, app downloads in 60+ countries and 400,000+ people with ementicons installed in their phones, all with $0 global media spend. The success means the campaign will be activated in their most commercially important markets, including India, Brazil and China - China even plans to print ementicons on the candy itself. Furthermore, the press coverage has repositioned Mentos as a digital brand, and brought them back into the consciousness, and pockets, of teens all over the globe.