“Magic Choc will grow even stronger in 2013”

Choc-o-blok began trading in 2007 and with a young, innovative work force, Magic Choc was born. We currently employ eight people at our manufacturing plant at Kiltonga, Northern Ireland, who work on a whole range of different positions related to the chocolate production. Now the main focus, Magic Choc is a flexible, mouldable chocolate which allows children to make chocolate models of their favourite characters.

The idea was born when creator Stephen Lennie was playing with chocolate when baking with his daughters and enjoying making pictures out of melted chocolate then letting the chocolate set. It made him think, wouldn’t it be brilliant if chocolate could be moulded into whatever shape you wanted without having to heat it first. This was the first step towards what would (after months of experiments) become Magic Choc. We also thought a lot about how children tend to put their toys in their mouths and it seemed obvious to make a product which kids could have fun with and then eat afterwards.

What’s the secret?

The patented chocolate tempering technology allows the chocolate to be handcrafted into various models without melting in the process. The products offer children, especially those aged from six to 12 years, a fun and clean way to play with and enjoy quality chocolate.

Challenging mummy bloggers

We faced a number of issues with the concept of playing and then eating. We had expected this parental concern to arise during the launch, so we were prepared. Each Magic Choc pack comes complete with an antibacterial wipe to ensure hands are clean before play time. This was partnered with the message to enforce children to wash their hands on all packaging and supporting material. This was the perfect solution to counteract any concerns.

The launch

The markets we work within have always been very large and aren’t really affected by the economic state of the country. With both the toy market and confectionery markets being very impulse purchase based this is a fantastic market to be in with the global economy as it is. This is important to us as we currently ship to 40 countries in Europe and the Far East so the Magic Choc brand is well on its way! One of our most recent countries which we have brought the product into is Russia, providing a huge market potential for the brand and satisfying the huge demand we have had from distributors asking to stock Magic Choc in Russia. Launching the product in Russia meant the packaging needed to change. It was the first time we had experienced a market that required a complete shift in appearance and brand identity. We worked with them to create a much more traditional look. They required a brand cartoon child for the product, a young boy to appear on all packaging and supporting material. It was wonderful to see a different culture visualise our product in a different angle and what elements of the Magic Choc brand were important for them, or ‘Wokoaenka’, as they named the product.

Licensed growth

The first license we partnered with for Magic Choc was the hit children’s UK characters, Moshi Monsters. All based around an online virtual world, Moshi Monsters is recognised as the largest children’s license of the last two years. It was fantastic to see these characters being integrated into the Magic Choc concept, where children create chocolate models of their favourite Moshi Monsters.

Marketing push

Finishing 2012 with a bang, we put a lot behind the Magic Choc brand. Experiencing huge marketing activity, Magic Choc featured as the free giveaway promotion toy with The Mirror newspaper. The Moshi Magic Choc product even embarked on a ten date demonstration tour with Toys R US across the UK every weekend leading up until Christmas. To complete the year on a massive high, Magic Choc was even named the No.1 Christmas toy on Play.com.

Character ambassadors

Brand Magic Choc will grow even stronger in 2013 with the introduction of the brand characters ‘Chocstarz’. Launching alongside the new website platform (www.magic-choc.co.uk), the Chocstarz will form the leading face of the product. It was something we were missing during the initial launch. We feel the time is right, the product has been received well and our audience is ready to accept an introduction of character ambassadors. The six characters which form the ‘Chocstarz’ will help drive the identity of all our marketing material and activity surrounding the 2013 action plan.

The website will play an important part for the brand, creating a central hub for children to return to for further model ideas, fun, games, all building a much stronger Magic Choc experience.

It’s important that we focus on the extension of the play time and avoid Magic Choc being a one-off product. In 2013 we aim to drive the further play element and encourage children and parents to visit the online platform for limited edition model ideas, competitions, chocolate model hall-of-fame’s – all driving interaction with the product.

 By Kieran Murphy, head of marketing at The In Thing, Magic Choc distributor

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