Products telling stories

According to Judit Csányi, managing director of KIDZ-Entertainment Hungary, it is best to select a cartoon character for promoting a product who will not only be accepted by children but their parents as well. This is especially important when the target group has not pocket money yet. It is also a good idea to combine gifts or a point collection system with a cartoon character. It is essential that the character selected for promotional purposes is “suited” to the product, even if it is only used on a single occasion. License agencies create harmonic pairs from products and cartoon heroes and then persuade clients about the promotional potential of the pair. Cartoon characters can be rented for HUF 2-3 million, which includes a complete image and utilisation manual. The experience of Chio, the distributor of Pom Bär shows that the 6-12 age group is the most receptive to cartoon heroes. It can help in persuading parents to buy the product if the package also has some educational value. Cards with historic figures in Chio Master Crok bags are an example of this idea. – Another good argument is if the product is healthier than others – says Gábor Szabó, from Chio Magyarország Kft. In the case of Master Crok, it was also important for the sub-brand to be sufficiently different from the main brand, but to retain the guarantee it represents regarding quality. At 25, the Pom Bär bear is not very young. It was adopted for the Hungarian market in 1991. – It is generally accepted in the toy industry that teddy bears are the most popular animal figures among small children. As the product itself is bear-shaped, it seemed an obvious idea to use a bear as a logo – adds Gábor Szabó. Kubu is another popular bear. As Andrea Kiss, marketing director of Maspex Olympos Kft. explains, Kubu is always doing something exciting. This of course, means different activities for different age groups, from gardening to roller skating. However, the message is always the same: energy and health. – We use different methods of communication for different target groups. We tell parents that the nutrients in Kubu are important for their children – says Andrea Kiss. While children are targeted by TV campaigns, a more rational PR campaign is used to persuade their parents. The results are convincing. Bonbonetti took advantage of the movie Mousetrap II by contracting some characters for a Tibi promotion. –This was a conscious choice by us, since the audience of the first part has grown up which allows us to reach them as well using positive feedback and the peculiar humour of the movie also has an appeal to older age groups – says Andrea Gódor, brand manager of Bonbonetti Choco Kft. The investment in royalty and packaging which conforms to the strictly defined image of the character is quite substantial, but yields a far larger return in the form of a boost in sales. .Bonbonetti also employs popular Disney figures, which first appeared on the packaging of their fondants at the end of last year. The carefully chosen characters lived up to the expectations and made a major contribution to the success of Disney fondants.