Spice It Up! Tums and Orchard's Bold Moves in Creative Risk-Taking

It might be considered controversial that Tums, a 90-year-old mainstay in the stodgy over-the-counter healthcare category, has made a first-time alliance with online betting service DraftKings for a campaign pegged to Super Bowl 58. But the executive who spearheaded the food-themed “Prop Bites” program said it “felt like the right connection” between two companies with similar goals—to enhance the fan experience. Tums has been active around the Super Bowl for years—given that Big Game menus are heavy on greasy pizza, gut-busting nachos and fiery wings—but the marketing team decided to break new ground for a 2024 collaboration, per Jissan Cherian, senior director of the digestive health business unit at Tums’ parent Haleon. “We thought about where our consumers were, especially younger ones, and areas like sports betting and fantasy football are such rich territories,” Cherian said during ADWEEK’s Outlook 2024 conference in New York. “And we felt like there was an unmet need.” Creativity Outlook 2024: Talent Is Seeking Renewed Purpose Amid Upheaval Though it's part of the digestive health segment, not necessarily known for envelope-pushing communications, Tums “is a fun brand.” Even so, the DraftKings partnership was carefully considered because “it’s tough, it feels hard, it feels like, ‘Are we sure that’s the right place?’” Cherian said during a panel called “How to Take Creative Risks in a Risky and Uncertain Environment.” Ultimately, the two brands have come together to create a gamefied website where consumers can vie for a chance to win part of a $10,000 prize. Players 18 and older can make free bets on popular game-day snacks and rituals. (They will wager on such topics as how many pizzas will be delivered before halftime or how much guacamole Americans will consume). Comedian and TV star Desus Nice is the spokesman for the campaign, which will include a popup activation in Las Vegas to help kick off Super Bowl weekend. It’s another example of Tums continuing to reinvent its marketing message and showing up “where food and culture collide,” Cherian said. Don't be boring Fellow panelist David Kolbusz, chief creative officer of ad agency Orchard—a finalist on ADWEEK'S Small Agency of the Year list in 2023—said Tums has an intuitive seat at the table, so to speak, at the big-tent sports event known for its “horrible food” and overstuffed partiers. “It would’ve been riskier to do something boring or nothing at all,” Kolbusz said of the “Prop Bites” promotion. “Instead you did something really clever.” Though it was central to the discussion during the panel with Adweek’s Digital Editor Colin Daniels, Kolbusz said he takes issue with the word “risk.” This Party Doesn’t Start Until the Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce Jiggles “You don’t actually have to take risks to do great creative—bold work that really stands out—because with the right strategists and creative minds working together, you can pre-empt any fears,” Kolbusz said. Using a combo of testing, social listening and other analytical tools, campaigns that may seem “dangerous, risky or irreverent” can be grounded in data and insights, “backed up by quality thinking,” Kolbusz said. Calculated risk Tums executives consider the potential positive and negative outcome of any calculated risk, Cherian said, informing the company brass of a campaign’s direction, tone and target. “If we get a little bit of push-back, we’re okay holding to the strategy because we believe in it,” said Cherian, who noted that creating friction in the marketplace can be a good thing. “Some of the best creative risks we’ve taken have come from social listening,” Cherian said. “You may hear good and bad things about your brand, but at least you get the real real.” Kolbusz wondered aloud how far brands can push these days in an increasingly cluttered market, and what they need to do to inject themselves into the popular consciousness. “It’s very, very difficult to get people upset,” Kolbusz said. “It’s very, very hard to be hated.” As an example, Kolbusz brought up an Ocean Spray ad from 2023 that “everyone was nervous” about. “It had a woman kicking a clown in the face three times,” he said. “We were all prepared for blow-back.” The complaints were scant, most coming from professional clowns, with Kolbusz noting: “It’s much easier to be ignored.”

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Don't Be Boring: How Tums and Orchard Take Calculated Creative Risks

Execs rely on social listening, 'quality thinking' and analytics tools to guide their decisions

T.L. Stanley

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T.L. Stanley