Under the tagline ‘Share Something Juicy’, the integrated TV and online campaign boasts a Starburst channel on popular video-sharing site YouTube.
In addition, the web brand content will feature on several popular video bloggers, such as David Choi, DavidJr.com, Katers17 and Rhett & Link, in a bid to extends its reach, and take the brand’s message, to an online audience.
Clips from the Starburst YouTube content revolve around the premise that the audience should ‘Share Something Juicy’, such as the individually wrapped, and consequently suitable for sharing, fruity and liquid-filled Starburst sweets.
This latest campaign launch from Mars supports figures from a new report that reveals advertising spending by food firms is far from slowing down, despite challenging economic times.
In their 32nd annual ‘Advertising Ratios & Budgets’ report, researchers Schonfeld & Associates suggest that the biggest ad spending category next year will be the diversified food industry.
After investigating nearly 5,000 firms across 300 different industries, the report forecasts that the food industry will spend a hefty $38.1 billion (23.9bn euros) on advertising, up 11.8 per cent over ad spending this year.
Further, the report suggests that the food industry has one of the highest advertising-to-sales ratios, with food players spending, on average, 13.3 per cent of their net sales on advertising.
Should the model be applicable to deep-pocketed Mars, that in a recent $23bn deal acquired Wrigley to create an industry giant with expected annual sales of $27bn, a ballpark figure would equate to a global advertising budget running into billions.
According to a recent article in ad industry publication Brandweek, that cites figures from Nielsen Monitor-Plus, Mars spent $21 million on Starburst ads in 2007 (not including online) and $2 million January-April 2008.