Gum Wars

I have been chewing over the 'centre goo wars' between Adam's Trident Splash and Dentyne's new liquid centre variation. Personally, I like the Trident Vanilla Splash. Like any other gum the flavour wears off after a while, but the initial surprise of the vanilla flavour burst is kinda neat. The ads, well...

So, I was naturally intrigued when Dentyne came out with their 'Bubbleboy' television execution. I loved it. Surreal. Fantasy like, intriguing. So much so, I had to have the gum - just... because. (I love when ads make you do things)

And, then the moment of truth. I tried it and - the gum was just okay. Not like the Trident Vanilla Splash.

So now I watch intently. For more ads. At the various point-of-sale techniques. Shelf placement. And interestingly, pricing (Trident Splash - $1.49; Dentyne Ice - $1.19/ $1.29).

Am I bordering on obsession? Hopefully not.

But I'll bet the makers of Trident and Dentyne obsess over it as well. After all, the North American gum market is worth over $3 billion US according to AC Neilson. And, it continues to grow, through new product and packaging introductions such as the ones noted above.

In my humble opinion, one has a better product, the other has better ads.

Who wins? Probably Cadbury Schweppes (who own both Trident and Dentyne), if they continue to bring this kind of interest to the category. Stay tuned.