LangYi, which has just hit shelves in eight cities ahead of a more comprehensive national rollout, consists of three variants: LangYi Beauty, Relaxation and Cooling.
Each variant contains herbal extracts commonly found in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatments. According to Wrigley chiefs, the ‘Chew & enjoy the LangYi life’ communications platform focuses not on flavour but on product benefits — with Beauty containing aloe, Relaxation using wolfberry and Cooling with luo han guo and loquat. “Both the brand and the products were developed with the Chinese consumer in mind. Special attention was paid when choosing the right characters for the brand name and image,” said David Glass, Wrigley marketing director, Asia.
In Chinese, ‘Lang’ means bright, open-minded, refreshing and happy, while ‘Yi’ means happy and relaxing. Glass noted the three variants were developed after research indicated Chinese consumers live more hectic lives, suffer from stress and are always looking for ways to remain healthy; the different herbal extracts incorporated into the gum are typically prescribed by TCM practitioners.
“It’s a modernisation of traditional Chinese medicine. LangYi puts TCM into chewing gum — which is an expression of ‘East meets West’.”
Landor developed Lang-Yi’s brand name and positioning and created a series of watercolour paintings which will be incorporated into the above-the-line campaign by Leo Burnett Guangzhou, with MEC overseeing media planning and buying.
“We wanted the name to be short and instantly recognisable, and we also had to make sure that the new line fit within the Wrigley portfolio, so as not to cannibalise revenue from existing product lines,” said Toby Johnston, CD, Landor. The campaign will also include print, OOH, PR and roadshows.
