Old Brands Learn New Shticks

Selling to Kids, April 14, 1999

Kids will accept - even embrace - brands their parents and grandparents once loved if those brands come with a whole new shtick, proved the marketers for two 70-year-old brands, Dubble Bubble and Duncan Yo-Yos.

Concord Confections Inc., which bought Dubble Bubble last July from Marvel Entertainment's Fleer Confections, revitalized Dubble Bubble with a new look, flavor and attitude. In one store chain, the product showed a 53 percent sales increase for the first three months of 1999, compared with the same period in 1998, says Paul Cherrie, VP, marketing, at Concord Confections.

"Fact is, [the old brand owner] fell out of sync with kids. The franchise was in long-term decline," says Cherrie, whose company worked with Ogilvy & Mather on focus groups with kids ages 6 to 12.

Findings showed the brand was "dormant. particularly younger [kids] didn't have an opinion about it," says Cherrie. And less than 20% of the kids liked the flavor.

So Concord added a sweeter flavor, and kept the original one to appease older consumers who presented "great resistance" to the proposed taste change.

Moms also registered resistance. Although it was important for the brand to move from all-American, apple-pie category, "sometimes when you lean far enough forward to excite children [with an image change], you can go too far with moms," says Cherrie.

For example, "you can't deny rap music is extraordinarily powerful in this demographic and to kids who aspire up to it. An awful lot of moms just don't get it," says Cherrie. "We have treaded carefully to make sure we're aligning ourselves with hip-hop without alienating moms [the gatekeepers]."

So Dubble Bubble used hip-hop only as a backdrop in its marketing efforts, which steered away from traditional media, like TV, radio and print, says Cherrie. To emulate the categories that have been most successful with kids - fashion and music, Concord worked with Sportsvisions. Oakland, Calif., an urban marketing firm, who marketed the brand by sending hip kid reps into neighborhoods. Concord also worked with O&M Interactive on a new Web site (dubblebubble.com).

That Retro Thing

But Cherrie says it isn't tough to persuade kids it's okay to like a brand beloved by older generations. "The fact that the brand has heritage is going to work in our favor. The whole retro thing is unbelievably strong," he says.

The redefined gum includes all new packaging that's bright and fun, not conservative like the old, and that retains only these elements:

* The logo's ellipse and crown. Research showed is even more identifiable than the name; and

* Pud, a cartoon mascot. Formerly turning up only in the comics wrapped around the gum, the reinvented character appears in the logo, "blowing up" the ellipse as if it were a bubble.

Ride an Existing Trend

One key to Duncan Yo-Yo's successful comeback has been its alignment with a popular trend. Yo-yos are an extreme sport you can put in your pocket, says Andrew Arveson, marketing and promotions coordinator at Duncan Toys and the former editor of Fiend magazine, which covers yo-yos and spintops. But unlike bulky skateboards and BMX (bicycle motorcross), kids can take a yo-yo to McDonald's or to school, and impress their friends there with their skills.

Playing off of this theme, Duncan will target kids ages 12 to 17 by sponsoring national tours. For example, this summer Van's Shoes will tour 32 cities with a festival that includes 20 punk-rock bands, extreme-sports demos, and a yo-yo booth, which Duncan will co-sponsor with other yo-yo makers, says Arveson.

Duncan also owes its revitalized image to TV and in-school marketing, which have led to sales increased by 800% in the past year. Sales began to climb after its first TV spots aired on Nickelodeon in 1995, targeting the brand's younger bracket of consumers, ages 7 to 12. The brand sold 26% more yo-yos in the year following, says Mike Burke, marketing manager at Duncan.

The next year, the brand also went after ages 12 to 17 "because when they influence younger kids" by adding spots on WWF (World Wrestling Federation), which Burke credits with increasing sales by 200%. In 1997, Duncan added ESPN and ESPN 2, along with the sponsorship of a national inline skating competition, leading to last year's sales hike.

The introduction of a five-day science lesson planner in 1995 also helped the yo-yos bounce back. Developed by a university professor, the planner uses yo-yos to teach concepts like pendulums and kinetic energy. The planners, with discounts for yo-yos, have been distributed to 80,000 5th- through 7th-grade science teachers every year since then. Last year, the kits were used by more than 2,600 teachers.

This year, Duncan's marketers will use TV just for the younger kids, with spots just on Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. It's targeting the older kids with the tours, and the product is already on a roll. WWF's not on the schedule because of negative feedback from parents, says Burke.

(Paul Cherrie, VP marketing, 905/660-8989; Mike Burke, Andrew Arveson, Flambeau Products Corp., 440/632-1631)