The test of time

Hands up who remembers Fry’s Five Centres, or maybe the Cadbury’s Spira or the Fox’s Echo. I certainly do and the world is a seemingly less happy place without them – at least when looking for a chocolate fix.

So why did they, and many more besides, make such a fleeting appearance when compared to the likes of the Mars Bar, the Twix or Dairy Milk – whose longevity is quite simply incredible considering the endless flavour combinations and production techniques available to manufacturers today.

One theory is that the marketing campaigns were not as strong as with the existing so-called flagship bars. It must be difficult to launch a new product in direct competition to an existing successful one, mustn’t it? Were the marketers looking to make them successful without detracting from the profit generated from already popular bars, and how would they balance that if they were? It must have come down to profit and loss in the end, and the responsibility for those numbers not adding up lies at a door through which we know not who sits.

Is it simpler than that though? The Mars bar has been around since time immemorial, so too the Twix and a handful of other bars that we are likely to have been brought up with, so is it simply a comfort thing that we stick to these tried and tested products? – a chocolate bar is certainly a comfort thing after all, so it stands to reason that a gamble on an unknown bar may be too much of a leap for some to take.

It may not be question of brand loyalty, but I believe the key to the ever-powerful staying power of the classics may be something to do with my last point. Stick with what you know is the mantra of the chocolate bar eater it seems, and if you decide to be so bold as to introduce something different, woe betide you if it doesn’t impress from day one!

What are your views on this topic? Tell us what you think.