200 Brands & Branding

Brands & Branding

Walk through the sweet aisle of your

supermarket, and you can’t help but

notice the jewel-bright colours of

Maynards enticing offerings. They’re

a sure indication of sweet times to come, and along

with their brand promise that ‘Life is fruity’, they’re

pure fun. But they happen to have a rich heritage,

too...

Maynards has been a part of every sweet lovers’

vocabulary since 1880. That’s when the father of the

brand, Charles Riley Maynard, first started creating

his concoctions out of a candy kitchen in the United

Kingdom, aided by his brother Tom and wife Sarah

Ann, who used to serve the duo’s customers.

The brand remained in the family well into the

next generation, when Charles’ son, Charles Gordon,

introduced Maynards Wine Gums to the range.

Interestingly, Maynard Senior was originally wary

of the new product; as a teetotaler, it took some

convincing until he realised that, despite their name,

the gums were in fact free of alcohol.

While Maynards remains the leading fruit sweet in

its country of origin, it crossed the Atlantic Ocean in

1949, when Beacon purchased the rights to the brand.

Maynards has proved as much a hit in South Africa

as it is in the United Kingdom, with the Durban-based

factory producing a range that includes gums, jellies,

beans and chews. Originally marketed under different

names, the creation of the Maynards umbrella brand

has entrenched its presence in the highly competitive

sweet market.

This is particularly important given the nature of

the market – here, it is impulse, rather than

pre-planning, that drives purchasing behaviour, and

Maynards has leveraged off a number of marketing

activities – including television, point-of-sale, radio,

print, outdoor and tactical – to create a brand which

stands out as fresh, innovative and always a little

surprising.

Product development naturally plays an important

role in enhancing this perception of the brand, and to

this end, the brand strives to continually deliver high

quality sweets that live up to Maynards’ colourful,

fun-filled image, while satisfying the tastes of today’s

consumers. The brand’s gums and jellies ranges are a

case in point, offering great taste without any fat.

Small wonder, then, that Maynards has successfully

earned the position of market leader in the gums and

jellies market segment. Consumers’ special feeling for

the brand is also reflected in the awards and surveys:

for example, Maynards’ Enerjelly Babies were voted

the third preferred brand in the 2007 Generation NeXt

Study’s Coolest Sweets category.

The kudos bestowed by South Africa’s youth shows

that Maynards’ future is likely to be as bright as its

much-loved sweets – and the popularity enjoyed by

the brand for well over a century continues unabated.

Brands & Branding 201

Brands & Branding

Energetic, adventurous and inquisitive: that

description neatly sums up most kids. It’s

also a pretty apt description of Jelly Tots

– which may well be why the brand has

been amongst South Africa’s favourite sweets since

its launch almost 40 years ago.

Think of Jelly Tots, and you immediately imagine

a taste adventure: the fun little sweets have been a

part of generations growing up, on the playground,

with friends – wherever.

Although the sweets haven’t changed much since

their introduction to the South African market in

1968, the brand has – and yet, it remains a colourful

part of childhood. In fact, the 2007 Generation NeXt

Study recently revealed that South African kids

consider Jelly Tots to be their number one preferred

brand in the Coolest Sweets category. Added to

this, Youth Dynamix BratTrax® research reveals

that Jelly Tots has, for the past six years, been voted

amongst South Africa’s 10 most popular sweet

brands by children younger than 12. That’s no

mean feat, especially for a brand operating

in a highly competitive, impulse-driven

market where consumers are influenced

by taste delivery and format, rather

than brand loyalty.

What is it that makes the brand so

irresistible to its target

market? Perhaps it’s

the colour and fun

they associate with

the brand. This has

been portrayed

in a variety of

ways since the

brand’s entry

into the market:

in the 1980s,

especially, the

Jelly Tots brand

was brought to

life by a host

of loveable

characters,

including a

fireman, a

nurse and a

policeman.

In the 1990s, the brand was modernised when

these characters were replaced by Mr Tots or JT, the

Jelly Tots worm.

The brand held further changes in store, most

notably with the addition of new products in 1997.

However, it was in 2001 that Jelly Tots’ current

incarnation came into being, with the introduction

of a single core range, characterised by its jelly

texture.

Then, in 2002, Jelly Tots was relaunched with

new packaging and a fresh marketing campaign all

indicative of its revitalised brand. Four years later,

the brand was acquired by Tiger Brands.

Today, the Jelly Tots range includes Original,

Power Sour and Craziberries flavours. While it

remains a firm favourite amongst kids, the

brand boasts a variety of formats and pack sizes

which make it a convenient choice for adults craving

a sweet fix – and, because the sweets are both fat

free and made without gelatine, they fit in well with

today’s health conscious lifestyle.

What’s next for the brand? Jelly Tots is likely to

continue on its ‘taste adventure’ – the tagline that

explains the Jelly Tots experience. As a major player

in the jelly segment of the kids sugar confectionary

market since it was established, the brand’s ongoing

popularity is likely to remain unchallenged for years

to come.