Festive movie and screen tie-ins present key opportunities for the confectionery sector
M &M’S is bringing fans together this holiday season with one-of-a-kind experiences and limited-edition products in celebration of Amazon MGM Studios’ Red One.
This is very much the season for the festive magic to begin, and retailers are definitely looking to gain a slice of the action, with Christmas chocolate and wider confectionery market has historically been one of the strongest in the industry’s annual calendar.
Not surprisingly, according to Euromonitor data, Western Europe tops the charts for consuming, with 271 thousand tonnes of chocolate valued at $6.2 billion sold last year.
This was followed fairly closely by North America, which remains the biggest seasonal market, last year gaining some $4.4 billion in chocolate sales alone in the run-up to Santa’s big day in 2023, proving that shoppers may well have constraints upon their budgets amid a cost of living crisis in many locations, yet the gift of chocolate, sweets and candy remains comparatively accessible for a sizeable portion of consumers.
Perhaps one of the most striking aspects of confectionery’s place in the limelight this time of year is the concept of the merchandising tie-in, which is definitely in evidence this year. This month has seen the release of Red One, (featuring ‘The Rock’ Dwayne Johnson), which Mars Wrigley brand M&M’s was keen to hop on board with in a brand collaboration, and elsewhere, Disney+ series, the Star Wars saga’s Skeleton Crew has also seen a slightly less likely link-up with a new malty flavour of Horlicks winter warmer drinks.
Indeed, the franchise has been one of the greatest marketing successes of the past four decades in terms of how it has tapped into the consciousness of generations of fans, with George Lucas admitting that the movie studio bosses had cared little for any merchandising rights back in the mid 1970s for the original launch of Star Wars. Today, they’d clearly take a very different line, as a seemingly endless stream of ‘merch’ pours forth relating to the the dizzying array of spin-offs from the famed sci-fi classic.
A casual flick through Google will see you find all sorts of culinary Star Wars delights, from Galactic Bakery through to cookery in the New Republic themed publications that most fans would barely have dreamt would ever be a reality, and yet here they are nearly 50 years on from that film’s first arrival in our universe.
The same is certainly true of many other film and TV franchises, as food companies, including confectionery businesses have clearly spotted an opportunity to be where fans are – and it is through embedding themselves with such astute marketing tie-ins, that even greater brand loyalty can be developed over time. So while we very much hope that the spirit of Christmas represents far more than a marketing opportunity, it’s hard to get away from them fact that the era of integrated business opportunities is here to stay.
Neill Barston, editor, Confectionery Production
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