How Kinder Joy is using pop-culture licences to win over a new generation of fans

At Delhi Comic Con this year, amid anime stalls, cosplay zones and queues of fandom-driven teenagers, you wouldn't necessarily expect a kids' brand to have its own experience booth. Kinder Joy, usually associated with very young children, had set up an elaborate experiential centre inspired by the DC universe.

Its presence might seem surprising in a setting built around fandoms more closely associated with teens and young adults. Yet the placement was deliberate. The activation was intended to draw older kids, adolescents and parents, and reflects a broader shift in Ferrero’s approach to Kinder Joy’s toys portfolio. The company is recalibrating the vertical to address an audience that is gradually ageing out of traditional toys and showing stronger interest in collectables rooted in the pop culture they consume.

Zoher Kapuswala, marketing head at Ferrero for the Indian subcontinent, says the decision to be present at Comic Con reflects a clear market insight. “For several years, Kinder Joy has been delighting our shoppers and consumers through playful discoveries,” he says. 

The model, however, begins to fray as children grow older. “When the kids are growing older, the regular range of toys that we have somewhere gets not so relevant for the older audience,” he explains.

Children entering the older bracket increasingly lean towards fandom-driven entertainment. Their universe involves Harry Potter, DC, collectibles, cinematic storylines and licensed merchandise. In this world, the Kinder Joy toy assortment requires innovation to sustain their appeal.

This realisation led Ferrero to overhaul how it defined its consumption audience. While parents remain the communication TG, children are the consumption TG. But within this consumption group, Ferrero is now drawing a sharper line.

“We are sharpening it into two parts, older and younger,” Kapuswala says. Younger kids continue to be served through the regular toy range. Older kids, on the other hand, require a different narrative. “Older kids, we felt, we will leverage through fandoms,” he adds.

This strategic re-segmentation is what brought Kinder Joy to Comic Con for the first time. The brand wanted to meet older kids and their parents in an environment where fandoms thrive and where immersive storytelling has real cultural currency. “You can see several older kids here as audiences, along with their parents who are also kids at heart,” Kapuswala notes.

Experience takes centre stage

Inside the brand’s Comic Con installation, visitors find themselves in a stylised superhero city created with dramatic soundscapes, lighting effects and visual storytelling.

Prior to the DC activation, Kinder Joy tested the waters with the Harry Potter Funko Pop collection. According to Kapuswala, the collaboration proved just how enthusiastically older kids respond to familiar licensed worlds. The collection sold 3 million units and earned Rs 150 crore as per industry reports, by tapping into multi-generational nostalgia, creating a "treasure hunt" for limited Funko figures, and leveraging social media buzz

Trivia: Funko Pops are a line of Pop! figures based on the Japanese style known as Chibi, which means short and cute. 

Building on that experience, the brand has now unveiled the DC Funko Pop collection, a partnership that builds on an existing relationship with DC. “DC has been our partner for a lot more collaborations,” Kapuswala says. 

He cites the recent Batwheels series as an example.

Using experiential fandom as a marketing tool serves multiple purposes. Beyond excitement and brand affinity, it also functions as a real-time feedback mechanism. As older kids and parents explore the installation, they share reactions that help the brand understand shifting expectations.

“We are getting a lot more feedback from them,” Kapuswala says. “We are also learning a lot from them. Understanding their preferences, understanding their aspirations better. It helps us as marketers to improve and bring them even better offerings in the future.”

Two pillars, one goal

At the same time, Kinder Joy continues to reinforce its other foundational pillar, the product itself. Kapuswala stresses that the brand stands on two equally important pillars: food credentials and toy valorisation.

While fandom-led collaborations drive excitement around toys, long-running equity campaigns keep the food pillar strong. Ferrero India's total net sales reached Rs 2,172 crore for the year ended August 2024, up 12% year-over-year. While dedicated numbers for Kinder Joy are not available, it is a key performer in the Ferrero product lineup. 

Priced at Rs 35 to Rs 50, Kinder Joy primarily competes with Mondelez's Cadbury Lickables and Gems in the surprise confectionery niche.

The equity initiatives focus on quality, taste and the brand promise that parents trust. They run throughout the year, ensuring that Kinder Joy remains anchored as a safe, enjoyable treat even as the toys evolve.

On the toy front, Kinder Joy is deliberately leaning more heavily into pop-culture collaborations. For older kids, these licences act as cultural identifiers. They also expand the brand’s reach beyond traditional advertising models. According to Kapuswala, fan communities themselves play a major role in amplification.

Consumers as advertisers

“We pass the baton to our fans,” he says. “Fans of Kinder Joy, fans of the licences. They become brand evangelists, brand ambassadors. They start spreading the word to their followers and their community.”

This approach helped the Harry Potter line achieve millions of organic views, and the brand expects similar momentum for the DC collection. “Once we reach our core community, they will be taking it forward to the next level,” he says. “It organically gives us a solid boost.”

Ferrero is also planning several such collaborations well into the future. Kapuswala reveals that an internal team dedicates itself to studying what resonates with children and families in the realm of pop culture.

“We have already lined them up for the next few years,” he says. While he refrains from disclosing names for upcoming licences, he promises surprises.

Although Comic Con Delhi marks Kinder Joy’s first collaboration with the event, the brand is evaluating how to approach geographic expansion. Kapuswala says the response from Delhi has been highly encouraging.

What is clear is that Kinder Joy is no longer content to be seen solely as a brand for very young children. Its toys vertical is now evolving into a bridge between nostalgia, pop culture and modern fandom.