Magnum in the Manila

The Philippines is a tropical climate.  Man its hot over here.  We have two seasons: Hot and Hot and Sticky.  Oh you can probably add Hot and Flooded to that list but the government might have me arrested for spreading that information as they've gotten pretty sensitive about that issue.  Anyways, where was I, oh yes Manila is hot hot and hotter.  So being a tropical country , ice cream sells better than hot cakes.  You can get ice cream for as little as a dime, i kid you not.  That's how popular we have it.  Of course if you want some Hagen Daz thats a different story.

Anyways, ice cream bars and their counterparts are abound in Manila, selling for roughly 50 cents.  That was the going rate and nobody dared to stray from that norm.  People priced accordingly and companies would work around that assumption of price and made ice cream bars of quality that could fit this prize range.  Until Magnum arrived.

Magnum was the first "premium" ice cream bar outside Hagen Daz and they priced it at $3 a stick.  Now sure its still cheaper than Hagen Daz but initially consumers were appalled at the price point.  Three bucks for ice cream, is it made of gold people would ask.  But there was something about Magnum that got people curious.

Ads portrayed people eating Magnum as high society.  Or better yet, someone who had attained high society status.  Usually they showed a working class man enjoying the good life, mixing it up with celebrities and the rich folk.  Magnum was not available in your 7-11, you had to find a particular "high-end" supermarket that carried it.  And even if they did, it always seemed to be in short supply.  The whole thing about it from the wrapper down to the stick seemed a little more "high-end".  And people ate it up, all three dollars of it.

The ads, the channel distribution choice, the price point, the product and the packaging all contributed to the perception of value, glamor and prestige.  Now im unsure of how Magnum is perceived in other markets, but here in Manila, its known as all these.

It got so bad that nowadays in the Philippines, we refer to things as the "Magnum" of the beer world just as people have used the "rolls royce" of chocolate.  Magnum, for richer or for poorer, has been ingrained in Filipinos minds as value and prestige.  And they have a great integrated marketing communications strategy to thank.