Innovating on the Ruffles® Brand

For the past 30 years Ruffles® in Brazil stood for 'a batata da onda' (the ridged potato chip). In time for the summer season, we're shaking things up on the snack brand Brazilian teens love. Two cool product innovations will be hitting the shelves this week. The first, is called Ruffles® Palito - a french-fries-style snack that brings the fast-food experience in a convenient format.
The second, is called Ruffles® Toast - the market's first potato & wheat-based cracker with the famous ridges so dear to the brand. Extending a brand into a new category is not easy. However, he feel confident we have a right to succeed. First, consumer studies show that Ruffles® is a brand with a good emotional connection with local teens. Teen consumers told us they would like to experience their brand in other ways. In fact, this particular concept had the highest scores in terms of overall liking and purchase intention. Beacause the Ruffles® brand is so intrinsically associated to potato chips, we knew we needed to differentiate the product from traditional potato chips. We also want Ruffles® Toast to be dispalyed in the cracker aisle so it's being offered in a carton box instead of a pillow bag. We were also careful to develop flavor profiles with a teen angle: cheese and 'pão-na-chapa' (a Brazilian classic... bread-on-the-grill a common morning choice consumed in bakeries).

Both innovations were led by Carla Araujo, our Marketing Mgr. Teen Snacking, Alexandre Chiavegatti and Victoria Gabrielli... three young marketing talents we'll be hearing more about in the future.

Send an e-mail with your thoughts after you try it. Would love to hear your comments.