Georgina Wilson is the newest endorser of Magnum. Photo from the website of Magnum Philippines

New flavors also launched

MANILA, Philippines – Model Georgina Wilson was formally launched on Tuesday as the newest brand ambassador of Magnum, dubbed as the country’s “it” ice cream, putting her alongside her celebrity best friends Solenn Heussaff and Liz Uy.

Wilson used to be one of the Philippine brand ambassadors of the high-end Haagen-Dazs frozen desserts brand, which closed its last two branches in the country in 2012 due to an “increasingly challenging” business environment.

I feel like it’s a natural fit!" Wilson said during the launch, as quoted by Magnum Philippines on its Twitter page.

Heussaff, for her part, said: “I’m excited about the new flavors because there’s finally a fruit flavor, and more chocolate!”

The Filipino-French actress was referring to the two new flavors of Magnum, Chocolate and Strawberry and Chocolate Brownie. The classic flavor of the ice cream bar consists of thick vanilla ice cream on a stick covered with Belgian chocolate.

Other flavors launched in the Philippines include Almond, Chocolate Truffle and Choco Cappuccino.

RFM Corp., which carries the Magnum brand in the country, reported a “spectacular” sales growth in the first quarter of 2012, thanks largely to the trendy ice cream bar.

‘Secret’ to success

In an interview with ABS-CBNnews.com late last year, RFM chief executive officer and managing director John Concepcion attributed the success of Magnum to the “power of social media.”

“What we did here, you normally want to let it percolate first. You don’t want to go tri-media right away. You want to let people talk about it and give testimonies about it. And when you hit the right time, you go tri-media,” Concepcion explained.

“You have to let people discover that [product first]. So we had a press launch, and then we had this huge big launch in an event in Makati. What we did there, I wanted to have an Oscar night, the longest red carpet that you can find. We had 200 photographers, press. We had celebrities coming in. We had one of the best shows that we ever did and it became the talk of the town. From there, people started tweeting right there. And the following day, ubos na ‘yung stock.

“And then after that, we said we don’t come out with TV right away. Let people talk about it. Give it about two weeks for them to experience it and talk about it, and then we go,” he said.

Asked how he plans to maintain Magnum’s growth momentum, Concepcion said: “Food is now becoming like fashion. It’s a lifestyle brand, so you’ve got to keep it cool, you’ve got to keep it in.”

“First and foremost, you products have to be good. You’ve got to have a range of new products coming in. Then you’ve got to find a way to market your product. Social media is a big part of Magnum. We used a lot of brand ambassadors there. We did some big launches. So continue that and continue to build it as a lifestyle brand and keep it cool,” he ended.