I thought NLNA has disappeared, I really had. Then, yesterday someone sent me a link to a video from VANA / NLNA (they use both names apparently) pitching a chocolate bar, I think, with the claim of high margin. Hmm, it’s 50% GP.
Groundbreaking stuff, not.
And the name NewsBar, or is it newsbar, or news bar? Who knows – because they don’t show the product. It’s hard to tell how this saves the industry. And, then, there is the reference that you can get magazines and papers in supermarkets, inferring that people can’t get this in supermarkets. Well, the supermarkets I shop at have a large range of chocolate bars, with brand names that I recognise and make sense.
Decide for yourself. Here’s the video:
I thought it was a joke on first watching. Maybe the promised TV campaign and billboards will make sense of it. I suspect not, though.
65% GP is high. 70% is better. What is better still is getting good margin, well above 50%, on a suite of products with which you can attract new shoppers, ideally shoppers who return, and through this growing your customer traffic reach.
I really can’t see this chocolate bar saving any business. For it to be noticed, recognised, it has to beat products with millions of dollars in. marketing behind them. And, it needs a name that makes sense. I don’t want to eat the news. I don’t want to chomp into a chocolate bar thinking of my local newsagent – that’s an image this name invites.
So much about this sounds and feels ill-conceived boy people not expert in the field.
Leech products that rely on existing traffic can be useful, but not doing-term valuable. A $5.00 chocolate bar is a leech product in my view, unless there is something truly unique about it. At $5.00 is’s likely not a gift, unless it’s a prank gift I guess. But, at $5.00, it’s an expensive chelate bar for yourself, especially when other retailers can satisfy your chocolate crave with okay chocolate for less than half the price.
And, when it comes to satisfying a chocolate craving, I reckon you’re more likely to go with something you know and easily recognise, something widely available.
It’s just my opinion but this pitch feels very 1980s to me. It does not feel like the future. It’s up to newsagents who see the pitch to decide that though.
I sell a lot of chocolate from a well known chocolate maker here in SA and I get 50%, which I consider to be okay, but not high because of my gifts I have 60%. The SA brand is well known and that is what works for me. This video doesn’t make sense. I’d suggest to newsagents who want to sell chocolate to research it thoroughly, something not apparent in this video. Yes, very 1980s.
Talk about being out of touch. VANA has lost the plot.
I can’t use my real name because a friend called me about this because of their connection with vana. Mark it is worse than the video you put here. They sent me a photo of the product and more details. The mark up is not what they say in the video. The profit is not 50%. This is type of promotion I’d expect from the old white blokes running vana 30 years ago. I’m not doing it.
That reminds me of the ‘Dynamo’ TV ads. Yep, 1970s-80s.
So amateurish, done as a selfie sorta thing. — Hold the phone still laddie. 😉
$5 for a no-name, unknown chocolate bar ?
I don’t think so…….. 🙁
If he had some pride in his product and presentation, why does he not show the item and even part of the huge promotional campaign he speaks of……
Can’t see any of this working in favour for VANA or the retailer……..
Drawing board is calling……..
If there was ever any doubt that NLNA is irrelevant, this video should help erase that.
I got the email from VANA boss Chris Pecora about this. He called it a major industry announcement. A bar of chocolate called NEWSBAR but with no context for that name on the packaging.
I’ve been in this game a long time, which means I’ve received bucket loads of pitches from people who think they have something major to announce. This chocolate bar thing is among the worst.
I wonder if VANA/NLNA shops are telling their administration their true thoughts on this promotion…….. they should be.
This is a joke right, tell me its a joke. I mean, vana, a joke right.
What did everyone else do with their chocolate? I made mouse and chock chip biscuits. Couldn’t sell the bars in the shop. People didn’t get it.
It was a stupid idea from the outset. I shudder at the thought of how much money we blew on this all of us.
And while I am here can anyone tell me what happened with this chocolate bar?
Kate while I never had it in my shops, I have spoken to several who did and it was a flop. Such a silly idea I think.