Wrigley is a prominent brand in the global market and one of the leading producers of variety
confectionary products such as chewing gums, mints, lollipops and hard candies. Wrigley is an
American chewing gum company which was established by William Wrigley Jr. in 1891. The
company produces popular and kid friendly chewing gum products which includes: Doublemint,
Eclipse, Extra, Spearmint, Juicy Fruit, Big Red and Hubba Bubba etc. Most of their chewing
gums are kid friendly, besides they also produce some non-gum items as well. Wrigley also
works as a supplier for other companies by making chewing gum bases which is used as
ingredient by the other companies, as a part of their business. Wrigley’s operations are scattered
in more than 50 countries in the world and their products are being sold in the markets of more
than 180 countries in the world.
Juicy Fruit is the product which initially helped Wrigley Company to rise as the most popular
and flourishing chewing gum company in the world. Juicy Fruit was first introduced in 1893 and
since then with the change of generation it has produced variety of flavors at different times. The
average age of the consumers of the Juicy Fruit is below 20 and among the consumers of Juicy
Fruit a large portion are from age range three to eleven. The product Juicy Fruit is kid friendly
and it played a leading role behind the success of Wrigley Company.
Consumer Trend
Consumer trend of the chewing gum products have been changing over the years. Wrigley’s
products such as Doublemint, Juicy Fruit and Eclipse had to revolve their taste and flavors many
times since their introduction to the market because of the changing consumer trend. Consumer
trend over the past years can be focused based on few factors such as sugar-free gums, fresh
breath, health issues and variety of flavors etc. Many abandoned mint and preferred breath strips
in order to have bolder and more freshening breath. People’s desire for fresh breath has been the
most obvious reason behind gum consumption. New products introduced in order to avoid bad
breath and it has resulted in a significant growth of gums and mints market. Another crucial
driver of consumer trend of chewing gum is health issues. Day by day people are becoming more
concerned about their health and they want gums and mints which will not bring any harm to
their own health and to the health of their kids. Earlier consumers were not aware about the
consequences of sugar but now they became conscious about that fact. So, the sugar-free gums
are also in great demand these days. In modern days people want variety in everything and they
also demand variety in the taste of gums. So that increased the need of introducing various
flavors for the chewing gum. In order to meet the changing consumer trends, Wrigley had to
revolve their products countless times. Juicy Fruits introduced Juicy Fruit Mixies in 2017 by
adding three new flavors (Strawberry, Watermelon and Grape) to their original flavor.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory
Figure: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory
According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory, consumers demand and needs are divided
into several hierarchical levels. The different levels of hierarchy in Maslow’s theory are self-
actualization, esteem needs, social needs, safety needs and physiological needs.
Self-actualization
Wrigley Company has always been successful to fulfill the consumer needs and demands and
they are always ready to meet any requirements of the consumers. They serve the consumers in a
creative way and they are also capable of solving any kind of problems immediately.
Esteem Needs
Wrigley’s fulfill esteem needs of the consumers by manufacturing the product in different
flavors. And they also use various marketing strategy to present the new flavors to the
consumers. The size of structure and quantity of the Juicy Fruits also defines the esteem needs of
Juicy fruits.
Social Needs
Social needs of Juicy Fruits are fulfilled once people start sharing about the experience of
enjoying the product with their family and friends. And they might also recommend them the
new products and flavors introduced by Juicy fruits and Wrigley Company.
Safety Needs
People are becoming more concerned about their health. So, the product hygiene and oral care
have become primary demand of the consumers. Wrigley’s manufacturers should put more
emphasize on product hygiene and oral care.
Physiological Needs
Wrigley’s Juicy Fruits provides the consumers with the taste of various flavors. They also fulfill
consumer’s demand of strong oral protection and fresh breath.
From the above discussion and observation of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory it can be
seen that Wrigley’s product Juicy Fruits are doing well to meet the consumers demands.
The Link between the Consumer Trends Identified and the Launch of a New
Product/Brand
The consumer trends identified previously have shown that people are becoming increasingly
health conscious in recent days. They demand has been shifted to more hygiene product and oral
protection and care. The demand for variety in flavors have also been increased over the years.
Keeping all the identified trends in mind Wrigley have launch Juicy Fruits and now it is adding
more flavor to the original flavor in order to cope with the increasing demand of the consumers.
So, in 2017 Juicy Fruits introduced Juicy Fruit Mixies by adding three new flavors (Strawberry,
Watermelon and Grape) with the original flavor.
Kano Model
Figure: Kano Model
Due to the rapidly changing market trend, the demand of the consumers also changes. According
to Kano Model, a product should be developed keeping three needs of customers in mind. Those
three needs are basic needs, performance needs and excitement needs of the customers. The basic
needs are generally hygiene needs and excitement needs are known as delighting needs. At one
stage the delighting needs also become basic needs and at that moment customers require
something new (Wang and Ji, 2010).
Wrigley’s Juicy Fruits is the kind of product which can satisfy the basic needs and the
excitement needs of the customers. Juicy Fruit satisfies consumer’s hygiene needs by preventing
teeth caries, protecting oral health and providing fresh breath. And Juicy Fruits also fulfill the
delight needs of the customers by it’s fun and pleasure attribute thus providing them with
different tastes.
Product Anatomy
Product Anatomy is very important in terms of analyzing the advantages the product will offer to
the customers (Blythe, 2017). The product anatomy is used to identify the consumer trends
towards the product and match it with the product which is offered by a particular brand. In this
case the product anatomy will be conducted to match Wrigley’s Juicy Fruits with the current
consumer trends of the chewing gum products. The major benefits offered by Wrigley’s Juicy
Fruits are oral health protection, sugar-free, safe for teeth etc. It is available in many flavors and
recently it added three more flavors to it’s original flavor which are Strawberry, Watermelon and
Grape. The consumer expectations from the product are that it will refresh their breath,
strengthen their teeth and hygiene.
Product Onion Model
According to the Product Onion model products can be classified in three categories: Core
product, Actual product and Augmented product. The core products are concerned with the
benefits offered by the products and which needs the product can fulfill. The actual product is
concerned with product’s brand name, quality, packaging design and different features. The
augmented products are concerned about the extra facilities offered by the products and also the
guarantee and services of the products. Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit is available in different types and
size of packaging as the augmented product (Desfosse, 2017). Wrigley’s products shape, color,
design and usefulness can be defined based on the product onion model. Wrigley’s Juicy Fruits
change their products color, share and design according to the consumer trends of chewing gum
products.
Marketplace Performance of New Product/Brand
When a new brand is launched to the market, the performance of the brand in that particular
market plays a vital role in the recognition of the brand worldwide. Following the launch of the
product if the product can satisfy the consumers immediately with it’s performance, then the
brand name of the product will be known globally and it will bring global fame for the company.
The product should undertake necessary approaches to improve their market performances in
order to gain more market share. Improved market share, increased sales and retaining customers
represents overall efficiency of a company and it is determined by the market performance of the
product (Farris, Bendle and Pfeifer, 2015). The number one fruit-flavored chewing gum in the
US is the Juicy Fruit brand. They introduced new flavors to meet the increasing demand of Juicy
Fruit in the US market such as Juicy Fruit Strappleberry, Grapermelon and Juicy Fruit Sour
Tropikiwi Kick etc.
Juicy Fruit first introduced to the Australian market when Wrigley Company entered into the
Australian market in 1912. Very soon Juicy Fruit became consumer’s favorite chewing gum. In
1915, Wrigley started producing Juicy Fruit in Australia by establishing their first official factory
in Melbourne. In 2004 they launched two twisted flavors of Juicy Fruit, Strappleberry and
Citronic. These two products were tasty and launched as 10-piece packs. In 2007 seven Juicy
Fruit launched more bigger packs, 60-piece biggie bottle for family, home and offices. Juicy
Fruit still holds a large portion of market share and is one of the most popular chewing gum
brands in Australia.
The Juicy Fruit gained strategic competitive advantage in the Australian market because of it’s
taste and then later it achieved more popularity because of it’s twisted flavors. And also gained
strategic competitive advantage than US market because of launching new flavors and big packs
which is suitable for home, office and car.
Balance Scorecard
Balance Scorecard is a performance metric used to identify different strategies which is suitable
with the mission and vision of a company. According to the balanced scorecard a new product
can be seen from four different perspectives: learning and growth perspective, business process
perspective, customer perspective and financial perspective (Violet and Josiah, 2011).
Learning and Growth Perspective
Recent statistics show that consumer preferences of Juicy Fruit have been increased in recent
years and is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years too (Country Report, 2016).
Consumers are highly satisfied with Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit as it provides fresh breath, oral
protection and sugar-free gum.
Business Process Perspective
Juicy Fruit was launched with new taste and different packs and it became popular among the
consumers. The product was launched after gathering necessary information through market
research about consumer demand and preferences. And the best possible and safe ingredients
were used in the product.
Customer Perspective
The Juicy Fruit is available in different tastes, people of any age can use the product. In is also
available in different packs, so that it can be used in different situations and occasions such as
smaller packs for children and individual and big bottle packs for family, home, office and car
etc. The Juicy Fruit is basically tasted after meal and the ingredients used in it are hygienic which
ensures the oral care of the kids and older people. People who wants to quit smoking can make
the habit of using this chewing gum and they can gradually replace smoking with the gum. Many
people like to use the product even after the smoking to enjoy fresh breath. Customer satisfaction
level of this product can be understood by the increasing sales and positive customer reviews
about the product.
Financial Perspective
Juicy Fruit has been contributing impressively to the financial activities of the Wrigley Company
from the very beginning. And now by introducing different flavors at different stages, it is
gaining more popularity among the customers and thus it’s market share is increasing rapidly.
The users of all ages from 180 countries all over the world can use the product as it is available
in different size, packs and flavors. And thus, it contributes to the financial position of Wrigley
rapidly.
Findings
Juicy Fruit is one of the most popular and successful brands of Wrigley Company from the
beginning. It was first introduced in the US market and then later on it is now being sold in the
markets of more than 180 countries all over the world. Wrigley also entered into the Australian
market 1912 by introducing the product Juicy Fruit. The product has been revolved many times
due to the change in consumer trends over the period.
Consumer trends of chewing gum products are mainly based on health issues, oral
protection and variety of flavors and tastes.
Juicy Fruit can meet consumer demand through the levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of
Needs theory: self-actualization, esteem needs, social needs, safety needs and
physiological needs.
A brand should follow consumer trends while launching a new product or brand in the
market.
Juicy Fruit worked to match their offerings with the consumer trend and consumer
demands.
Juicy Fruit introduced new flavors in order to meet the expectations of the consumers.
They also customized their products for different countries and people of different ages.
They introduced different size of packs to be more specific on their consumer needs.
Juicy Fruit met both basic needs and delight needs in Kano model by using the hygiene
products and fun and pleasure attribute.
Product anatomy is used in analyzing the benefits and advantages Juicy Fruit offers to
their customers in order to fulfill their needs.
Product onion model determines different product design elements such as color, design,
usefulness and shape etc.
Juicy Fruit is regarded as the number one fruit-flavored chewing gum in US market.
After introducing to the Australian market, it gained huge popularity immediately.
Introduction of different twisted flavors and big pack size had been major driver of their
success in Australia.
Market performance of Juicy Fruit brand has been impressive in both US and Australian
markets.
Balance Scorecard is used as a performance metric for Juicy Fruit brand and according to
balance scorecard it’s performance are measured in four different perspectives such as
learning and growth perspective, business process perspective, customer perspective and
financial perspective.
Conclusion
By performing this analysis on the Juicy Fruit brand of Wrigley Company it can clearly be
seen that the production of Juicy Fruit is performed in a more scientific and technological
manner in order to protect the oral care and hygiene by keeping consumer’s health issues in
mind. The demand for Juicy Fruit have never fallen. Although the demand for chewing was
decreased in the US market, demand of Juicy Fruit remained constant. Wrigley has always
experienced success in the development of new products. Over the years they have
introduced and developed new products like Juicy Fruit, Doublemint, Freedent, Extra, Orbit,
Eclipse etc. One thing is noticeable among all the products launched by Wrigley’s, their
success mainly depended on their ability to match with the ongoing consumer trends and
introduction of various flavors over the years. Another factor was very important behind the
success of Juicy Fruit which is health issues. They kept in mind the health-related concerns
of people and used ingredients which are not contradictory with the health issues. Wrigley’s
products were safe for the consumers as the products provided the customers with the
benefits of protecting oral care, fresh breath etc. Juicy Fruit were able to establish a strong
link between consumer trends identified and the launch of new product or brand which
helped them to enjoy success all over the world and provide the customers with an exact
match of the product they desire inside their mind. When a brand can provide the customers
with exactly what they want then the success of the brand is obvious. And same case
happened with Juicy Fruit and Wrigley’s many other successful brands, they have applied the
proper strategy and it paid off for them. So in case of the launch or development of any
product, the selection of strategy is very important but in is not the most important factor
though. The most important factor is understanding consumer needs and analyzing consumer
demands which have brought success for Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit.