Cadbury Yowies aimed at children

By any standards, Yowies are a marketeer's dream. Cadbury's new product, which was launched into the Irish market this week, combines chocolate, a cute collectable toy and the parental feel-good factor of buying a confectionary product with an educational and environmental twist. It is also being launched into a market that, thanks to Kinder Surprise, is familiar with the concept of buying a hollow chocolate shape filled with a small toy. The target market of five-11 year-olds is a highly lucrative one and Cadbury predicts Yowies will enter it with a bang. A key element in the product's success has been the collectability of the animal figurines that are in each of the six Yowies. At any one time 60 per cent of Irish children in the target age group are collecting something, from phone cards to Nintendo games. Fast-food store promotions, such as those regularly run in McDonald's and Burger King, are based on the idea that children want to collect complete sets of figurines which encourages repeat visits. The toys inside Yowies are also appealing in that they are rare animals which come complete with a small booklet giving details of that animal. Apart from the educational appeal, they also come with the plus of requiring no niggly self-assembly.

In its first year in Ireland, Cadbury estimates the product will be worth £2.3 million (€2.92 million) in over-the-counter sales. (Each Yowie retails at 95p.) To put that forecast in context, established brands like Buttons, the children's market leader, is worth approximately £5 million.

The company's confidence is based on experience of the Australian market where Yowies were invented, and where they were launched two years ago with spectacular success. To date, a staggering 52 million units have been sold and Yowies' collectible status firmly established.

The hollow chocolate shells are filled with one of 50 small plastic models of unusual animals, from a koala bear to a gecko, with an information booklet about the animal. Some figurines are more easily available than others and this has led to an active swap market, with young collectors trading to get the much-prized complete set. In addition to informal swap meets, there are more than 1,500 websites dedicated to Yowies, as well as a magazine, and lucrative merchandising spin-offs including soft toys, books and T-shirts.

Unusually, the product was not the invention of one of Cadbury's R & D departments. Two Australian advertising men, Mr Bryce Courtenay and Mr Geoff Pike, thought up the idea and brought it to Cadbury. The company could immediately see the marketing potential of the product, but it was unsure if it could actually be made. New products that involve an adaptation of the production line are one thing, for example Twirls were made on the Flake line, but Yowies are significantly more complicated - involving assembly of the plastic components, sealing them in the chocolate shell and foil-wrapping the whole thing.

After two years of market and product research, including plant investment of £3 million sterling, Yowies were finally launched and are now being taken up by Cadbury in other markets. They were launched into Britain last month and their introduction in Ireland is being supported by a £250,000 advertising and marketing campaign, concentrated in two bursts during this month and in the back-to-school month of September.