Mucinex was losing relevance with a young audience and market share to competitors based on slow growth within the category. The brand was also faced with a new internal client team that needed to find a powerful way to gain interest during the cold and flu season, which is very short and competitive. TikTok was starting to gain popularity but finding “the cool” aspect of Mucinex as a brand was a challenge in itself; layering on the need to show up a new platform without #cringe, the brand has its job cut out for them.
Mucinex partnered with up-and-coming choreographers, Alison and Twitch, to create dance moves that would pair nicely with the hashtag #BeatTheZombieFunk. By changing the focus from what congestion looks like to how colds make a person feel, Mucinex tapped into a story that could communicate the power of their medicine in a fresh, relatable way. The campaign also may have had unintentional relevance: In the age of the coronavirus, the prospect of feeling good, dancing, and starting a day feeling healthy became more important.