Snacks giant KP is launching a new product it claims will revolutionise the snacks market.
The company says new Hula Hoops Shoks, aimed at the 12 to 24-year-old market, are unique to the bagged snacks market and estimates the product could net at least £10m of sales in its first year.
And the company is putting its money where its mouth is with a massive £4m marketing investment in Shoks during the first eight weeks.
Shoks are mini Hula Hoops packaged in an innovative 55g foil cube. They come in three new flavours - Full-on Onion, Bigtime Saucy and Totally Cheesy - and will be available to licensees through the major cash-and-carry chains from April.
Marketing controller Claire Robinson said: "Complacency is not a Hula Hoops value and we wanted to rewrite some of the rules." She added that consumer sampling so far had been overwhelmingly successful. "We've never experienced a reaction like it," she added.
The new pack design is aimed at taking the Hula Hoops brand into the impulse snacks market, aligning it more closely with confectionery brands like mini-Polos and impulse snacks like Monster Munch and Nik-Naks.
Advertising activity planned around the Shoks launch will include a new television campaign, yet to be unveiled, as well as new media initiatives involving text-messaging, digital TV and the internet.