Candy or Toy? Marketers Say Taste, Fun Packs and 'Gross-Outs' All Win

Brandweek,  June 12, 2000  by Mike Beirne

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Now that interactive toy candy is one of the fastest-growing segments driving the novelty confection business past $349 billion in annual sales, players are honing their views on what works and what doesn't.

Some buyers and manufacturers opine that candy given play value through some kind of innovation is a bonus, whereas candy simply linked to dispensers, packaging or licensed characters build up the toy or the property but not the brand. For example, Concord Confections makes Candy Blox--edible building blocks that snap together--and Candy Stampers--fruit flavored stampers kids can lick.

"It's not packaging innovative; it's product innovative and that's the difference," said Paul Cherrie, vp-marketing and sales. "There's a lot of trash and trinkets out there, but nothing replaces product innovation to keep kids coming back for more."

Similarly, Impact Confections' Lollipop Paint Shop, which includes paint brushed-shaped suckers that consumers dip into a can of sour powder, is not just a candy and not just a toy. "It's the interactivity of the product that drives the interest," said Steve Moskowitz, marketing director.

The counter argument is the plastic, microchips and licenses that go with the likes of Dilbert Skittles dispensers create excitement and repeat sales. "It's another excuse for consumers to buy more candy" said Tom Prichard, gm at OddzOn/Cap Candy.

Cap, whose licensed fare has found tween fans, is going after a younger crowd with Yuckers confections in grotesque dispensers priced at $1.99, versus the $3.99 Spin Pop.

A TV spot for Yuckers Icky Licky Sticks, via Towne, Silverstein & Rotter, N.Y, features "Snotty," an animated green character, who appears after a bus driver sneezes and asks the boys on board for some candy With lines like "I got a foot in my mouth," and "At least I keep my ears clean," the boys gross out adults by licking candy ooze from dispensers shaped like a slimy eyeball, green foot, infected ear and runny nose. Other Yuckers SKUs include ABC "Already Been Chewed" gum in wacky dispensers and Foul Mouth Tootsie Pop holders featuring tongues with scars, earrings and warts.

Hershey is beefing up its toy candy lineup through its Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas movie tie-in and Candy Bar Factory, perhaps the first of such branded make-it-yourself styles, said Tom Bugg, marketing manager for kids candy Previous stocking stuffers had screw tops with little play value. This year's Grinch toppers sport a light-up heart and a view-finder with scenes from the upcoming Jim Carrey movie. CBF, retailing for $1.99, allows kids to create their own bar by spreading white frosting, sprinkles, Reese's peanut butter-and-cookie bits onto molded chocolate. It gets POP support and a candybarfactory.com online game flagged on-pack.

No doubt the final argument to the toy candy debate is taste and value.

"If the candy doesn't taste good, kids are not going to come back to it and we want to keep it under $1.99 or else it's just a onetime purchase," said Bruce Thompson, vp-marketing at Amurol Confections, which is launching Cluckers, a bubble gumball-laying chicken for Easter and Salem's Mystery Magic Bubblegum tied to TV's Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

Domestic candy makers have yet to tap the U.S. Hispanic market but Nestl[acute{e}] and Laredo, Texas-based Lucas Worldwide are making joint presentations asking retailers to add Mexican confections in their product mix. While Nestl[acute{e}]'s Carlos V chocolate bar and Lucas' suckers, gum and powders made with tamarind and chili lack mainstream appeal, such a lineup still offers opportunities in areas where at least 15% of all customers are Mexican, said David Benitex, Lucas' vp-sales. Response has been slow, but 7-Eleven stores soon will test dulces at stores with a 10% penetration of Mexican consumers.

Warner-Lambert's Adams unit will use TV ads from J. Walter Thompson, N.Y., to tout the tooth enamel-building benefits of Trident For Kids during back to school. That product's momentum was stalled by a recall last year, which scrapped a sampling effort, a McDonald's tie-in, from which W-L tried to regroup through print ads (Brandweek, Feb. 21).

Finally, Dentyne Ice rolls its intense Arctic Chill flavor in August with more TV spots promoting the brand. Everest, a year-old strong-gum entry from Amurol, gears up with college campus sampling, FSIs, and a $3-S million budget for radio ads from BBDO, Chicago, airing in 26 markets next month with tagline, "Some Like it Cold."

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