Getting the new year off to “That Fresh Start Feeling,” Kenvue’s Listerine will count down to midnight and beyond with a marketing blitz that includes sponsorship of CNN’s annual Anderson Cooper/Andy Cohen special, digital OOH fireworks in Times Square, pop-up events in New York and Austin, influencer marketing, and retail tie-ins.
The campaign’s focus is on Listerine’s Total Care Alcohol-Free mouthwash, previously known as Total Care Zero Alcohol since launching in 2011. The name change “represents a new brand identity for Listerine that aligns with evolving consumer priorities and the oral care landscape,” a spokesperson tells Marketing Daily.
The marketing offensive also aligns with Kenvue CEO Thibaut Mongon’s goal to increase household penetration in the mouthwash category, per remarks earlier this month at the Morgan Stanley Global Consumer and Retail Conference.
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While the 110-year-old Listerine holds a significant lead over its nearest competitor, Mongon said, there’s a “huge opportunity globally” to increase penetration of mouthwash as a category.
The “Fresh Start Feeling” campaign will peak with what the brand is calling a “takeover” of CNN’s “New Year’s Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen” from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. local time, including commercials, sponsored segments and a Listerine Countdown Clock. The live coverage from Times Square may also provide glimpses of Listerine’s celebratory digital video billboards, running on the Midtown Financial and NASDAQ buildings from Dec. 30 to Jan. 6.
On CNN’s digital side, Listerine will sponsor New Year’s resolutions on the news network’s “Life, But Better” wellness site.
Elsewhere in New York City on New Year’s Eve, a pop-up event in Grand Central Station’s Vanderbilt Hall will allow consumers to “swish away the old and wish in the new through interactive activities and photo opportunities while receiving exclusive swag and free product giveaways,” per Listerine. A similar event will take place in Austin’s Auditorium Shores.
Influencers will be on hand at both locations to share their reactions on TikTok and Instagram, the culmination of an influencer campaign that will begin the day after Christmas. The brand says their social media posts will include such content as New Year’s Eve preparation tips and how they “incorporate Listerine Total Care Alcohol Free mouthwash as a key step to achieving a whole mouth clean.”
Listerine says it is also offering shopping deals with major retailers, from special bundles featuring the Alcohol Free product to value packs of on-the-go essentials.
Agencies involved with the “Fresh Start” campaign include Bulletproof, creative; OneVue, media; Branded Cities, OOH; Billion Dollar Boy, influencers; and Hunter, public relations.