Purchase Solution

Category Entrepreneurship Case

Not what you're looking for?

Ask Custom Question

Entrepreneurship Case
WELCOME TO THE KANDY KASTLE, BUT BEWARE-THINGS
ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM
Meet Larry Jones, a former toy designer for the likes of Hasbro, Mattel and Playmates Toys. Displaced when the industry turned to electronic toys, the irrepressible Jones is hard at play designing captivating candy concepts for niche manufacturer Kandy Kastle. He is not a confectioner, nor does he aspire to be one. Instead, Jones tinkers with
candy delivery mechanisms and silly, sometimes grotesque names sure to capture the eyes, imaginations, and tummies of youngsters.
His products belong to the $250 million, nonchocolate segment of the U.S. novelty candy market. It's the third largest segment of the sweets market, behind chocolate and chewy treats such as gummy candies, licorice, and taffy. The market has been flat in recent years, but several former toy designers and a slew of hobbyist designers are beginning to breathe new life into the industry.
Their creations range from the simply fun to the outright goofy, and candy makers pay handsomely in hopes of landing the next big hit. Two of Jones's latest hits include the Big Barf and the Big Burp. Repulsive though they sound, both are just mouth shaped, sound-generating dispensers for harmless gumballs. Though items like the Big Barf reek of a style unique to Larry Jones, he is just one of a new breed of novelty candy container designers who are hoping to create the next confection legend that might someday be mentioned in the same breath as the almighty Pez.
As action figures, toy trains, and other traditional toys are increasingly overshadowed by their digital counterparts, inventors and their employers are betting that products that combine toys with candy curiosities are positioned to capture the dollars left behind by that fading market. Deirdre Gonzalez, vice president of marketing for Cap Candy, says the reinvigorated novelty candy market is "a hybrid business between the two industries." Often priced from $.99 to $1.29, candy items sold with toy novelties are now attracting dollars that used to be reserved for low-end toy purchases.
And the competition is as fierce as children's tastes are fickle. In addition to Kandy Kastle, companies like Cap Candy and Candy Planet race each other to develop new products, while the likes of Willy Wonka and Jelly Belly battle to promote their lines with tie-ins to blockbuster children's movies. Even independent entrepreneurs are getting in on the act. Two married couples quit their postal service jobs to form BAAT Enterprises (from their names: Bill, Ann, Ann, and Tom) and introduced the Spin Pop, a rotating motorized sucker. A modern take on the Ring Pop, the Spin Pop sold almost 6
million units in under two years.
What's cool with kids is fleeting, though. New products must be developed every month to keep up. Larry Jones, for example, did not rest on the laurels of his gastrointestinal gumball designs. He is also the wiz behind Ear Wax, Big Toe Goo, Tar Pits, Hose Nose, Brain Drain, and glow-in-the-dark Lightning Bugs. "What I'm after is to have the kid have a little bit of magic or a little giggle while eating his candy," Jones says. Kandy Kastle is relying on him to come up with a host of interesting fare based on the hugely popular Hello Kitty brand, too. Originality is key. The children in this market space, aged 4 to 12 years, are increasingly savvy consumers and they are gaining in influence and even buying power.
Influence with parents is crucial, of course, but sway with other kids in the peer group is more critical. Rose Downey, marketing manager at Au'Some Candy Company, puts extra emphasis on word-of-mouth endorsements for her company's novelty products. "We feel that the right way to grasp the kids' attention is word-of-mouth advertising,"
she says. "Kids trust other kids' judgment," she continues. "If Child A buys the product and it tastes great and looks cool and is fun, Child B is going to want the product and so on. Trust the kids. They know best when it comes to candy:,46

Purchase this Solution

Solution Summary

The expert examines the categories for entrepreneurship cases.

Purchase this Solution


Free BrainMass Quizzes
Income Streams

In our ever changing world, developing secondary income streams is becoming more important. This quiz provides a brief overview of income sources.

Marketing Management Philosophies Quiz

A test on how well a student understands the basic assumptions of marketers on buyers that will form a basis of their marketing strategies.

Managing the Older Worker

This quiz will let you know some of the basics of dealing with older workers. This is increasingly important for managers and human resource workers as many countries are facing an increase in older people in the workforce

MS Word 2010-Tricky Features

These questions are based on features of the previous word versions that were easy to figure out, but now seem more hidden to me.

Business Ethics Awareness Strategy

This quiz is designed to assess your current ability for determining the characteristics of ethical behavior. It is essential that leaders, managers, and employees are able to distinguish between positive and negative ethical behavior. The quicker you assess a person's ethical tendency, the awareness empowers you to develop a strategy on how to interact with them.