One of
the novelties introduced by MAGNOLIA Ice
Cream in the 1970s were the line of MAGNOLIA
ICE CREAM CAKES and ROLLS that were produced in limited numbers made for
special occasions. They were basically ice cream that were frozen in molds that
had special shapes (mortarboards, toys, logs, flowers and fruits) to mark Birthdays for adults and kids,
Graduations, Weddings, Debuts, and other milestones. They were airbrushed with food
coloring by hand and individually decorated.
The Ice Cream Cakes could also be
pre-ordered if one wants customization of the cakes. These were created at the MAGNOLIA Dairy Plant along Aurora Blvd.
where visitors can even see their production on the ground floor, next to the Magnolia Flavor House. These novelties
had a niche market and were popular treats that continued through the 1980s.
Eventually, the production of MAGNOLIA
Ice Cream Cakes and Rolls were phased out as the manual process proved to
be not cost-effective, making the products premium-priced. But for followers of
these ice cream novelties, they were one of the best ideas ever to come out from
the finest name in ice cream, MAGNOLIA.
ANYTIME IS CARNIVAL TIME. MAGNOLIA CARNIVAL FROZEN CREEM
By the
mid 70s, Magnolia, the dominant name in fine ice cream, found itself vulnerable
with the rise of new ice cream brands, most specially from Presto Ice Cream,
which even had a copycat “Flavorite of the Month” line, and even earlier,
Silver Bell. In 1976, a Magnolia introduced a flanker brand, MAGNOLIA CARNIVAL
FROZEN CREEM.The
price brand consisted of 8 star flavor attractions: Super Strawberry, Jolly
Orange, Merry Mocha, Vanilla Fling, Nangka Fantasy, Mango A-Go-Go, Groovee Ube and
Chocolate Fiesta. It came in gallons, half-gallons and cups.
In the 1980s, Coney Island Scooping Stations were successfully
introduced in which one can enjoy even more affordable ice cream scoops in
cones, with a merry variety of flavors. Magnolia had to change its position, by
introducing its own scooped ice cream flavors thru its new line “Ice Cream
Internationale”, to go against Coney Island. The CARNIVAL brand was
discontinued, its flavors folded into Magnolia’s new scoop brand.
In the early
1980s, SMC-MAGNOLIA entered the lucrative juice and juice drink market with
a brand called Nature’s Best Orange Drink. It had also introduced in 1981, a premium
bottled fruit juice brand called Magnolia Juice, in Orange, Mango and Guyabano flavors.
Nature’s Best proved to be more viable, especially with the growing shift from
bottled packaging to the cheaper, recyclable tetra-pack cartons.
TRUER TO THE FRUIT, Launch Ad, 1983
Magnolia
eventually dropped the more expensive bottled juice line and retained Nature’s
Best for some time, only to be incorporated in a new fruit drink line introduced
in 1983: MAGNOLIA FRUIT DRINKS in
single-serve tetra cartons with straws.
The
launch materials include a Radio Jingle that was composed and sung by the Apo
Hiking Society, with the catchphrase: “Give me the fruit…or give me Magnolia”,
commissioned by its agency Ace-Saatchi & Saatchi.
LISTEN TO MFD RADIO BY APO HIKING SOCIETY, 1983 HERE:
The MAGNOLIA
FRUIT DRINKS line would expand to include Buco (Coconut water), Mango, Guyabano (Soursop), and Calamansi (Philippine
Lemon) juice flavors. The carton-packed fruit drinks survived the 90s decade,
and would be reformulated several times.
In
2000s, MAGNOLIA FRUIT DRINKS reverted to PET bottles and crowned bottles.
Today the MAGNOLIA FRUIT DRINK line is applied to bottled products
(Grape and Orange Flavors) advertised in tandem with their fruit-based HealthTea
line,
"FIGHT LIKE A PRO!'on the cover of Kaunlaran, SMC Magazine
In the 1980s, SMC-Magnolia Corporation caps the year by holding its annual national sales
convention, usually in major key cities in the country, like Manila, Baguio,
Cebu and Davao. Here, members of its national sales team are flown in,
gathered, and apprised of the next years plans for the various Magnolia
products they are pushing. These include a review of all the Magnolia brand’s
performance and a presentation of next year’s sales targets, marketing,
advertising, and merchandising plans.
LISTEN TO MAGNOLIA'S "FIGHT LIKE A PRO" RALLY SONG
The direction of next year’s sales initiative is embodied in
a theme, and in 1985, “FIGHT LIKE A PRO!”was the battle cry, a call to more aggressive
selling, but carried out in a professional manner. A Rally Song was
commissioned by Magnolia’s ad agency to motivatethe sales teams and lift their “fighting
spirit”. Musicwas provided by the late
award-winning composer, Caloy Agawa, from lyrics written by Creative Director,
Alex Castro.
During the whole duration of the 2-day conference, the song
was played during social events, most especially on the last day of the
conference: the Magnolia Sales Achievement Awards Night. Here, sales achievers
of every rank are given recognitions in a grand evening of musical entertainment, featuring the country’s leading artists of the decade.
CREDITS:
AGENCY: Ace-Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising
ACCOUNT: Gigi Garcia, Lawrence Tan, Dudy Masilungan
CREATIVES: Alex Castro, James Bernardo, Vianne Lizardo
