Social media saw an almost Bake Off-level outcry this week as confectionery-crazed fans discovered they could no longer find toffee deluxe sweets in their tins of Quality Street.
The horror quickly spread across Twitter, with some people creating petitions to bring back the sweet.
But the social media storm was a little on the late side. The change to the Quality Street mix began back in May, rolling out across tins and tubs in August to coincide with the brand’s 80th birthday. It seems no one noticed their ‘favourite’ sweet had been snatched from them until now.
Nestlé was forced to respond in an attempt to correct some of the myths that quickly emerged, pointing out the toffee deluxe sweet was not actually in the original Quality Street assortment and that it is still available as part of the toffee and fudge packs.
Whether a deliberate attempt to sneak under the radar, or just a delayed announcement, the brand was held to account by consumers on social media – where ultimately there is no hiding.
It’s not the first time changes to iconic products have sparked this kind of reaction. Burton’s relaunched Jammie Dodgers in March with a new recipe, prompting petitions for the change to be reversed. And there’s surely more to come. As the government’s obesity strategy has called for a reduction in sugar content in confectionery and eight other categories, the number of reformulations is only set to increase.
But perhaps there’s a way for brands to engage their social media followers with reformulation in a more positive way – before it bounces through all the channels, adding unnecessary myths to the already sensitive topic of our favourite childhood sweets.
In the US earlier this year, Kraft ran a social media campaign playing on the fact it had changed its famous Mac & Cheese. The comical #didntnotice Twitter hashtag was used to engage unsuspecting consumers with the change.
Brands should be using creative ways like this to make reformulations and product changes a positive step, rather than facing a backlash from adoring confectionery consumers. Build anticipation and make it irresistible.
As the obesity debate within the confectionery category continues (you can read all about it in this week’s Focus On Confectionery), there’s no doubt more and more brands will have to made changes to products – and communicate them effectively to consumers.
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