JCDecaux has awarded its 2024 Programmatic Campaign of the Year award to Mars for Extra's Gum Cities, created in collaboration with EssenceMediacom, T&Pm, and GroupM.

The campaign was recognised for its innovative use of programmatic Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising, which aimed to increase brand awareness, improve consumer sentiment, and drive sales growth.

Extra’s Gum Cities targeted Generation Z students, workers, and commuters, showcasing the potential of OOH advertising to connect brands with younger audiences. Research indicates that Gen Z values real-life experiences as much as their digital interactions, a factor that the campaign leveraged effectively.

The campaign led to a reported sales growth of up to 10% across the eastern seaboard. It also achieved a 64% increase in purchase consideration, a 206% rise in positive brand perception, and a 106% improvement in brand clarity.

The campaign utilised GroupM’s digital Out-of-Home planning platform, Journeys, to select locations and ensure relevance at scale. Additionally, the campaign was integrated across broadcast video on demand (BVOD), radio, and social media platforms. Dynamic creative triggers were employed to adjust content based on time, day, environment, and mindset, allowing for tailored messaging for different audience segments and locations.

National Programmatic Director at JCDecaux, Brad Palmer, said: "The judges agreed that Extra’s Gum Cities showed the real power of programmatic Out-of-Home - not just in reaching audiences, but in driving business outcomes."

Client Managing Partner from EssenceMediacom, Michelle O’Brien, said: "Younger audiences expect brands to meet them where they are, not just online, but in the environments they move through every day. Programmatic Out-of-Home played a critical role in reaching them, ensuring Extra’s Gum Cities was visible at the right time and place. The results speak for themselves; programmatic Out-of-Home allowed Extra to deliver a breakthrough result and campaign. Recognition through this award reflects the collaboration and expertise across our teams in using data and dynamic creative to drive business targets."

Gum & Mints Portfolio Director at Mars Wrigley, Frances Birsa, said, "Chewing Extra Gum delivers Australian consumers a refreshing and unconventional me-moment in an increasingly chaotic world, and our Gum Cities campaign helped us reinforce that. Programmatic Out-of-Home gave us the flexibility to tailor our messaging to different audience segments at scale, ensuring we reached people when they were most receptive. This level of precision helped further integrate Extra Gum into people’s routines, reminding them to chew Extra whenever they're looking for a simple way to take a bite-sized me-moment."