Why Mentos' "National Night" was anti-climactic

The Mentos “National Night” campaign was no doubt creative, and viral, but did it drive any real outcomes? How will we “ahem” measure this? 9 Months later? Brand visibility is up but is anything else? Did you feel compelled to buy a roll of Mentos? (because you were happy to see me). Love the creativity, but the mechanism to translate this into sustained engagement was the anti-climax.

If the campaign had added the mechanics so that social media could extend into lasting engagement and loyalty it could and would have been a truly legendary campaign.

So what’s holding marketers, brand owners and businesses from doing this?

The ability to take creative content and build in long-term engagement has never been more opportune, and measurable. For example, the vast majority of our consumer audience now carries a mobile phone which is more powerful than the PC was on our desk ten years ago, and which can be used in a variety of ways to engage, reward, and build sustainable relationships.

Look at what Pacific Beverages and the Stella Artois brand they manage is doing with their “How Does Yours Measure Up?” campaign (and yes, pun intended). As they execute this creative and fun campaign, in search of the best draught beer and bar in Singapore, it also engages the consumer with a mobile platform to reward them for their purchases, and in turn gain their feedback. This builds on the creative concept but also incents consumers to purchase Stella Artois in comparison to other brands as well as drive other key business and ROI outcomes. It’s a two-way engagement that has lasting, and real impact.

And honestly - isn't that better than a one-night stand?