New Delhi: SpongeBob SquarePants, for those who may not know, is a sea sponge which lives in the underwater world of Bikini Bottom along with various other cartoon characters.
Click here to view a slideshow of products featuring entertainment characters in store
Thanks to Colgate-Palmolive India Ltd, he will no longer feature just on the television channel Nick, but is also seeking a prominent bathroom presence in the form of so-called bubble-fruit flavoured toothpaste.
Children (and adults presumably) looking to vary their brushing experience can also try strawberry-flavoured Dora the Explorer toothpaste.
Colgate-Palmolive launched both products in India two weeks ago, joining other personal and home care products firms such as Hindustan Unilever Ltd and Dabur India Ltd as well as a handful of lesser known manufacturers that are using television characters to cater to children, whose pester power is increasing.
“Today kids take the buying decisions and parents only pay,” said Anwar Ali, store manager at Delhi’s Mom and Me, a retail store chain that’s part of Mahindra Retail Pvt. Ltd. “We see a lot of excitement in our consumers towards these character products as compared with the general ones. Even the companies have become more aggressive in pushing such products into the market with more inventory.”
No kidding: A child making her choice from a range of products at a mall in Bangalore. The market is flooded with pencil and lunch boxes, stationery items and school bags emblazoned with cartoon characters. Hemant Mishra / Mint
Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse is a perennial favourite with merchandisers and kids. Mumbai-based Maneesh Pharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd introduced the Mickey and Minnie Mouse range of baby-care products in June. It recently launched shampoos and talcum powder for the 4-14 age group with the Disney characters.
Shop shelves have been flooded with personal care products featuring characters such as Barbie, Tom and Jerry and Garfield, among others. A Hindustan Unilever spokesperson confirmed that the company currently has Pepsodent toothpaste packs in the market with characters such as Barbie, Superman and Tom and Jerry.
Hello Kitty will also enter the Indian market through Spacetoon India Pvt. Ltd, which has partnered with Japan’s Sanrio Inc. to become its official licensing representative.
“There is a huge list of categories we will enter including fast-moving consumer goods such as personal care items and confectionery for children,” said Rajiv Sangri, chief executive officer of Spacetoon. “Currently, we are talking to a leading modern retail player in India to manufacture and sell these product by March next year.”
To be sure, licensed entertainment characters is not new—the market is flooded with pencil and lunch boxes, stationery items, school bags, toys, games and even children’s garments emblazoned with Barbie, Dora, Hannah Montana, Tom and Jerry and many others.