Brachs
Trusted quality,great taste.
When you’ve got a brand as well established and revered as Brach’s, it is important to honor its heritage. After all, this is a name that has graced candy packaging and displays for 102 years. It’s just as critical, though, to keep pace with current consumer needs and expectations.
At least that is how marketers at Dallas-based
Brach’s Confections see it.
“We want to grow the longstanding relationship
that we have with our core consumers on our traditional products, as well
as engage new consumers with brands, products and promotions that are
relevant,” says Dara Sandland, senior director of marketing.
That translates into offering a broad array of
time-tested confectionery items while also coming up with relevant new
concepts and marketing strategies. On the product front, consider the
following new entries.
100 Calorie Packs. Sized
to fit the active lifestyles of today’s health-conscious consumers,
six-count pouches of 100 Calorie Packs of Orchard Fruit® Tiny Gummi
Bears, Mini Milk Chocolate Stars and Mini Dark Chocolate Stars will begin
shipping in 2007. The mini versions of popular forms maintain their
original flavor and look in portion-controlled servings.
Brach’s Gummi Plus with
Electrolytes. Everyone needs to refuel now
and then, and these energizing gummi fruits are packed with 120 mg of
electrolytes to deliver real replenishment. Packaged in six-ounce hanging
bags, flavors include lemon-lime, blue raspberry, orange, cherry, fruit
punch and strawberry.
Pick-A-Mix. Celebrating
the longstanding popularity of its Pick-A-Mix bulk candy, in January 2007,
Brach’s is introducing a Pick-A-Mix laydown bag that features an
assortment of the top-selling candies in the “mix.” Meanwhile,
Brach’s will continue to use the brand name for its bulk candy
business. With its Pick-A-Mix variety line, the company is the
nation’s No. 1 supplier of bulk candy, and has been since 1958.
“In all, the Brach’s confectionery line,
produced in state-of-the-art plants, numbers over 700 items,” says
Scott Frey, Brach’s senior vice president of sales and marketing. It
includes sugar confections, chocolate and fruit snacks for everyday as well
as seasonal offerings.
Candy corn is one notable example of Brach’s
seasonal success and also affords a great example of Brach’s focus on
contemporary marketing initiatives. This fall, the company tied in with the
Sony Pictures Animation movie release “Open Season” by
featuring it on candy corn and fruit snack packaging and building a
successful Website promotion around it.
“There’s more licensing excitement in the
months ahead,” continues Frey. As part of a rotational SKU of movie
tie-ins, Brach’s has extended its relationship with Sony Pictures
Animation to include a fruit snack themed on the “Surf’s
Up” movie to be released during summer 2007.
Whatever direction Brach’s chooses to go in the
months and years ahead, marketers emphasize that it will stay true to the
attributes reflected in its tagline, “Trusted quality, great
taste.”
It’s hard to imagine two more important
ingredients for success.