Kiss

Bank
Campaign
A Campaign Review
Klemens Ismoyo Djajapurusa, 1206290043

The Mentos Kiss Bank Campaign

Campaign Overview
The Objective
To establish a digital and social presence for
Mentos in Israel while reinforcing Mentos
global slogan: There is Nothing Like a Mentos
Kiss
The Means
Using social media to create a young and
vibrant community on Facebook
The Concept
The Mentos Kiss Bank, the first bank in the world for nothing but kisses, was
launched in July 2010. It was the worlds first kissing bank that trade kisses, an
online and offline engaging campaign. At the Kiss Bank, it was possible to send,
deposit, borrow, and lend kisses to friends via Facebook. Customers of the bank
could convert the kisses they accumulated in
their account for Mentos products, vacations,
movies, and more. Clients received daily
updates on the Worlds Kissing Market. The
bank presenters, lead by Thanly Kisser (pun
name given after Stanley Fischer, Israels bank
governor), engaged customers who
participated via Facebook Connect application
and BTL guerilla activities and personally
invited top bloggers to open an account. The
Kiss Bank Campaign was a digital campaign
that went beyond the boundaries of the Internet and crossed into the real world,
with bank branches and Kiss ATMs opened around Israel.
The Result
Thousands of accounts were opened as soon as the activities started. Tens
of thousands of virtual kiss videos were sent on Facebook, articles, status
reports and discussion about the virtual kiss bank. During the four weeks
campaign, more than 1.5 million relevant surfers (72% reach) were
exposed to the activity, with no media budget and with the cooperation
with Euro Israel.

Campaign Review for Indonesian Market

In order for this campaign to be launch in Indonesia, certain changes and
arrangements should be made to the elements of the campaigns. I would
recommend the use of on of the extension - adaptation matrix strategy, which is
strategy 2: Product extension communication adaptation.

As you can see from the matrix, strategy 2 is using the same product with
different communication. The product of this campaign is the Mentos Kiss. There
is no need to change the product to cater to the Indonesian market, as there are
already different kinds of sweets and candies with different flavors being
accepted by the people of Indonesia. Hence, the cost incurred from implementing
this strategy is relatively low because it is using the exact same product
worldwide.
The time when Mentos launched this campaign in Israel was the time when
Europe was having a monetary crisis. The alternate idea of this campaign was to
somehow make a bloopers out of the situation that Israel was in at that time.
We can deduce this because the leader of the bank presenter was named Thanly
Kisser, which is given after Stanley Fischer the Israels bank governor. Now
would be a good time if we were to use this campaign in Indonesia. In Indonesia,
although we are a developing country, free speech is not entirely encouraged.
Because of this, certain advertisement and/or campaign that deemed to be
insulting certain bodies of the government will be shutdown.
The second point of the strategy is to use different approach on advertising, sales
promotion, point of sales materials, and other communication programs. As I
have mentioned earlier, for this campaign to be successful in Indonesia, there are
certain changes to be made. The first few things that need to be change are the

bank presenters. I would recommend hiring local Indonesian people, not artists,
to act in the campaign. But we have to be careful not to use sensitive names for
these people.
The campaign should target middle
class and above. Why? In Indonesia,
it is all about image and the fastest
and cheapest way to do broadcast
about a new product is by
introducing them to the most
influential people in Indonesia,
which are the socialites of Indonesia,
such as Ms Agri Velt. It is also easier
to target middle class and above
because this campaign is using
online social media and online
updates are being sent to the users
daily. It is true that most Indonesians are using smart phones, but only a handful
of those users are actually using the phones to stay online. Most of them are just
using the phones as a normal mean of communication.
The other elements of the campaign, such as the types and trading of kisses, are
safe and acceptable to use in Indonesia. Inviting Indonesians bloggers, such as
the Jakarta Social Bloggers, is also one of the necessities for this campaign.
One of the things that we need to be careful of is the current image of Mentos in
Indonesia. As of right now, mentos is perceived to be one of the sweet for lower
class. Most of the upper class people would normally buy sweets like Halls
because they have lower sugar count. And also because mentos are readily
available everywhere, including the shops by the roadside. Since we are
targeting the middle class and above, mentos has to package the new mentos kiss
in a way that it looks sophisticated and has a certain feel of social status class
when people are seen holding or eating the sweets.
The only drawback mentioned in the strategy is that this strategy may result in
product transformation that is the product ends up serving different functions or
use. But for this particular campaign, I am sure that mentos kiss will still serve as
what it aimed for.

Conclusion
It is possible to use the full extend of the Mentos Kiss Bank campaign. The only
thing that need to be changed is the people acting in the campaign. As for the
idea of being able to trade kisses online, it is one of the most interesting and
innovative ideas to get the public attention. And the target for this campaign is
the middle class and above. I am sure by introducing the product to the correct
people who has the correct influence, this campaign would be a success.

Links
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odAF6MH6KzE

Reference:
Nadia M. Andayani, S.Sos. MA: Lecture 11 Marketing: Marketing Strategy And
Planning Part 1.

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