- To what category of new products does the Spin Pop belong?
From the case study we can see that Spin Pop category is a revision and improvement product of the Ring Pop. The concept behind this new improved product was that it had a rotating motor attached to eat which rotated the candy inside the mouth of the kids itself. The reason why the company came up with such a product is that in order to keep up with the interest of children they must be exposed to different and improved products in about a period of 2 months so that they are not used to the same monotonous taste and style of the same product. Marketers are trying to inject air into the novelty candy market, thus, they need to create a hype of interest amongst the children so that whenever a new product comes they consume it and at the back of their minds expect that in some time another product will be launched and the curiosity starts building inside them. As they wait more for the new product, it is obvious that more quickly and in larger quantities would they consume the new product as soon as it is launched
- Based on what you read in the case, what do you think Kandy Kastle’s new product development strategy is? Why do you think the development
of the Hello Kitty product line is so important?
The development strategy of Kandy Kastle is to come up with new products that are in line with the electronic toys that have attracted much of the attention from children. They want to use the hype created by the toy manufacturers and incorporate this hype for the sale of their candies. Thus, in order to do that, they are concentrating on the lower end dollars that are left with children and they can’t be used to get toys, in fact they can buy a novelty candy from those left over dollars that would get them equivalent utility in terms of tickling and funny feelings. Thus, the company is trying to come up with funny candies that are associated with toy and characters in order to regain the interest of children towards candies[1]. Hence, when we talk about Hello Kitty line, it is very important due to the fact that it has been very popular in terms of both toys and clothing that children use. Children prefer and like using products that have a hello kitty line on them or they are attracted to hello kitty shapes. Thus when we talk about hello kitty line, it can be marketed in terms of candies and children would like to spend their dollars on this candy because of the fact that the brand is so popular among them.
- Visit www. KandyKastle. com and review the product descriptions. Discuss the characteristics that influence their rate of adoption and predict
and explain their rates of acceptance and diffusion.
At the Kandy Kastle website, there are a range of products that are displayed that cover a range of occasions and brands with which these products are related to. For example, the website has products categorized into different categories like Easter, Halloween, Christmas, Justice League, and NASCAR, Hello kitty, Hello Kitty (Easter) and Everyday theme candies. These categories contain various types of products in them according to the tastes and preferences of children of different mindset and nature. For example, in the Christmas season, children go to the Christmas section and select the candies that they like from the catalogue. Same goes with the Halloween and Easter. However, for boys who have craze for racing cars have a different category that is the NASCAR theme. Same goes for girls who are hello kitty fans, this theme also has a variety of different products that associated with the hello kitty theme. However, the most important point and characteristics to be noted here is the fact that the concept behind these products is very much aligned with the interests of the children. - Every product that is gums, candies and lollipops are given different shapes. For example in the NASCAR section, children can have different variety of NASCAR shapes in different products. In gums they get NASCAR tire gummies, in candies, they get pull popper candies and in pops they get pit stop pop. Thus every type of candy is associated with a different image[2]. According to my prediction and the information given in the case study, the industry has the potential to absorb these new trends and also has the flexibility to expand as well because children have a psyche to try new things that other children have tried and liked. Moreover, they will also be attracted these novelty candies because of the fact that they are similar to toys, but, cheap and can be replaced with another different product easily and quickly.
- In what part of the product life cycle are both the candy and toy categories? What kind of future do you predict for the novelty candy category?
When we talk about toys, the toy industry is moving towards the electronic toys and it is past the stage of development and introduction of the product and is now in the growth stage. Many companies are marketing their electronic toys already and they are getting good response from children because the same old toys that used to be operated manually are now being operated electronically, so this improvement and product re-engineering aligned with technology attracts children quite effectively. As far as the candies are concerned, traditional candies are now in the mature state that is that they are on the latter part of the PLC curve from where they will now go towards downfall rather than more growth in case no innovation is incorporated. Thus, Kandy Kastle is now bringing innovation in their products by getting help from designers such as Larry in order to bring innovation in their novelty candies so that they can stop the graph from falling and rewind it to the development stage that will again lead put the industry to growth stage.
Currently, if we talk about the industry, children are more interested in the electronic toy market that fascinates and attracts them much more then the novelty candies. However, once the innovation takes place the way Larry has envisioned, the market will definitely take a rewind on the plc curve[3]. The reason behind this fact is that candy companies will come up with new ideas and products that are aligned with the toys and characters that are most famous amongst the children. They will start developing a range of items that will be replaced by newer ones in much lesser time then before; hence it will create interest and hype in children and will drive them to spend their last dollars on these products. Once the companies make the children that these candies can also serve as their toys, the companies will then again enter into growth stage where they will try to market these products with different routes that are they will come up with new stories and new characters in order to make their products a brand. Hence the size and activity in the industry will shoot up once again.
Work Cited Page
Kotler, P. Armstrong, G. Principles of Marketing . Prentice Hall, 2003.
Ranchhod, A. Marketing Strategies: A Twenty-first Century Approach. Prentice Hall, 2004.
iffernet company came up with such a product is that in order to keep up with the interest of children they mut be exposedm Pop. the oduct of the Ring Pop which
[1] Kotler, P. Armstrong, G. Principles of Marketing . Prentice Hall, 2003. pp52-90.
[2] Kotler, P. Armstrong, G. Principles of Marketing . Prentice Hall, 2003. pp23-60.
[3] Ranchhod, A. Marketing Strategies: A Twenty-first Century Approach. Prentice Hall, 2004, pp56-89.
