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NEWS ARTICLES Wall Street Journal Article "A Chocolate Version of Big Foot Demonstrates Legs Down Under" STORY BY: JENNI JAMES SPECIAL TO THE WALL STREET JOURNAL The candy industy call it's "pester power" - the elusive ability of a product to make kids nag their parents into purchasing it. Last year Cadbury Schweppes PLC achieved pester power with its limited edition Spice Girl chocolate bars in England. In Australia, the company's current champ of pester power is an improbable chocolate creature called a Yowie. The yowie is the big, hairy, mythical Australian creature believed to be a cousin of the Himalayan yeti or the North American sasquatch. In their chocolate incarnation, Yowies are about 2 inches high with nicknames such as Boof, Rumble and Ditty and theoretically serve as guardians of the environment. Inside each is an assemble-it-yourself miniature plastic bush animal, such as a wombat or a koala, and an informational leaflet. The chocolates are filled at random, so children never know which animal they will receive. "The kids are always asking for them", says Wayne Morris, 33, who sells about 120 Yowies a week at his corner store in Winnellie, in Australia's sparsley populated Northern Territory. Since they were launched by Cadbury in May 1997, Yowies have captured 40% of the $54 million Australian childrens's chocolate market. At $1.50 Australian dollars (about 75 cents) each, Yowies are pricier than most popular candies. But Trish Fields, Cadbury Australia's business manager, says they sell because they deliver "something that mum thinks is OK". The idea works for Lisa Clemenger, a 35 year old mother in Melbourne who reads Yowie tie-in books such as "Nap the Honeygum Yowie and the Fiery Flame-Fanning Grumkin" to her five year old son. The books deliver an environmental message to "stop the bad people from burning down the bush and all that sort of thing," she says. That's just part of the Yowies marketing blitz. Kids can get a map of Yowie Kingdom for about $3 and four Yowie tokens. Coming in October: Yowie bubble bath and shampoo. Cadbury which spent three years planning the Yowie launch, has sold the plush-toy license to Australia's largest retailer. More characters are on their way. Grumkins, the tree-chomping villians with such names as Yucky Mucky Poo, are about to appear in some chocolates. The concept, Ms Fields says, can be rolled on "for a lifetime". Cadbury even includes a seam in the chocolate to make the creatures easy to open. Ms.Fields says: "Our market research showed that people really didn't want to bite the heads off the Yowies." |
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