Tie-up with Universal Pictures matches miniature apple brand with popular movie characters

Rockit Global has announced a new collaboration with Universal Pictures coinciding with the release of the upcoming movie, Minions: The Rise of Gru.

Three of the popular animated children’s characters will feature prominently on Rockit’s packaging, forming part of an extensive omni-channel campaign across China and Hong Kong.

Global brand manager, Hannah de Valda said it was exciting to see Rockit marketing like a FMCG brand with unique campaign packaging and a collaboration that aligns with the brand’s personality, attitude and values.

“Both Rockit and The Minions are innovative, unique, joyous and sweet, so we are pumped to launch this iconic and cheeky collaboration to stand out in the fresh goods category and introduce our brand to millions more consumers,” said de Valda.

“Following our successful collaboration with PacMan in 2021, teaming up with the world-renowned Minions is another significant milestone towards our goal of becoming the world’s most loved apple brand.

“As an apple brand that innovates, thinks and acts differently and is brimming with energy, collaborating with the popular Minions will make a huge impact in-store and online to drive Rockit sales in challenging conditions.”

Rockit will have a significant POS (point-of-sale) presence in China targeting 10,000 activations across a range of retailers, supported by fun merchandise encouraging a healthy, active lifestyle, and extensive digital activity to achieve a strong consumer experience.

Rockit China marketing manager, Xin Hu, said this is the first time Rockit had created a set of iconic custom packaging for consumers to collect.

“On sale since Children’s Day, the Rockit x Minions pack – showcasing the Minions characters – has already been very successful. Being packed and sealed in New Zealand has also been a huge advantage in driving sales in a very challenging Covid situation with many in-store retailers closed,” said Hu.

“Working with Hema, the leading online-to-offline (O2O) platform under Alibaba Group in China, the Minions pack is available online nationally and in close to 40 campaign themed offline stores in key cities. To date we have already seen strong 50 per cent year-on-year sales growth instore, as well as selling through all stock through Hema’s online store.”

This activity will be supported through KOL (Key opinion leaders) and KOC (Key Opinion Consumer) collaborations and social activity coinciding with the movie release, including a Douyin (Tiktok) live-streaming event to enhance the partnership with the Minions brand.

“With this strong brand partnership, we’re proud to be delivering cut through marketing activity that has grabbed consumer attention from the outset,” de Valda added.