If you want a chocolate covered wafer, go for KitKat. The Nestle SA candy bar is a
monster hit worldwide. In Britain, where the candy originated in the 1930’s, someone eats a KitKat every 47 seconds. So you might think it would be a great idea to build a franchise of flavored KitKats, and you would be wrong, naturally. According to
The Wall Street Journal (paid subscription required,) Nestle decided to launch new flavors in the UK, and failed. The new KitKat flavors included
strawberries and cream, passion fruit and mango, red berry, even a
low carb version. But the new flavors flopped, and UK sales actually dropped 18% while the flavors were available. But worldwide, brand extensions are still a safer bet than launching new products. Kraft, for example has morphed Oreo cookies into ice-cream, ice-cream cones, pie crust and mini cookies. Note, however, that Kraft did not mess around with the familiar product flavor. But for brave companies,
Marketing Blurb believes there is always an opportunity to muck up a solid brand with unnecessary tinkering. Practice helps.
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