George Goodberry graduated from a well-known catering school as a chef. He had specialized in desserts, particularly chocolate ones. On his vacation, he had made a few batches of chocolates at home, packed them carefully, and tried them on his friends. They were highly appreciated and he was soon inundated with orders for them. The activity soon became a small business.

I was constantly looking for ideas to make better chocolates. During the course of her research, she came across an interesting article by Dr. Marian Smith about a biological product she discovered during her scientific research called Sodium Octavate. She claimed in the article that this unique additive to the chocolate base seemed to add musical memory to record an octave of sound in the final product. It was a wonderful discovery. But since she was busy with other programs, the discovery was in the embryonic stage in her lab.

George was fascinated by the idea of ​​adding music to the chocolates. He visited Dr. Smith.

“I’m George Goodberry. I’m a graduate chef and I make chocolates at home. I was fascinated by your article on the musical quality of sodium octavate when added to chocolate. I couldn’t resist the urge to visit you for a chance to work with it.” George introduced himself to Marian.

“My main research is something else and I found this remarkable substance and its unique quality on the side. But you seem like the right person to study and develop it further. If you want, I’ll give you a sample and you can work on it.” at home since I have no place to work here. Go to the fridge and pick out a test tube marked with NaOv.” Marian thought it was better for someone qualified with chocolates to work with it rather than have it sit untouched in the fridge.

George jumped at the offer. “Oh! Thank you. That would be wonderful. I promise I’ll study it with great interest. ” He walked over to the fridge and opened it. There was a box of test tubes in the fridge and he found the test tube with NaOv. There was also a tube labeled: ‘Bacillus Octavatilus’. He brought the two tubes to Marian.

She said: “Bacillus Ovtavatilus is the species of bacteria that produces octavic acid. This acid, when neutralized with sodium hydroxide, precipitates the sodium octavate. You can spread the bacteria on standard agar medium and harvest the sodium octavate.” .

“Can I have a sample of the bacteria too?” asked George hesitantly.

“Sure, I have a dozen test tubes, so you can have one. And here are the instructions on how to play the music.” She obeyed, handing him the sheet of paper.

George returned home with both tubes looking very pleased with the visit. He knew how to transfer the strain into the clean air chamber and multiply it on agar base in a conical flask. He made 4 flasks, inoculating them with the bacterial strain. He then turned to the Sodium Activate powder that he had brought him in a test tube. He put just 100 milligrams into 100 grams of chocolate base and kept it melted at 45 degrees Celsius on a hot plate. He looked at the chocolate and spoke out loud: “Thank you, Marian, I really appreciate it.” He then cooled the chocolate by keeping it in the freezer for 20 minutes. He had followed every step on Marian’s instruction sheet to the letter.

He took out the chocolate and popped a piece into his mouth. As the chocolate dissolved in her saliva, she clearly heard him say in her brain, ‘Thank you Marian, I am very grateful.’ She only spoke once before disappearing down her throat. She couldn’t believe it. She took another piece and put it in her mouth. The same result. She could hear the words, ‘Thank you Marian, I am so grateful to you’ once more. I was a fantastic discovery.

She made another batch with the words “I love you mom!”. and he took it to his mother who lived a few blocks away. As she ate the chocolate, she said, “You don’t have to say it. I know you love me!” She had heard the message embedded in the chocolate. But George couldn’t hear him. Chocolate only speaks to the diner; no one else can hear anything. He confided in his mother. “Mom. I made talking chocolates! What you heard wasn’t from me. It was from the chocolate you ate! Try one more time.” He gave her another piece.

“George, you’re a genius! He said, ‘I love you!’ I don’t know how you did it. But it’s just wonderful.” She was overwhelmed with her achievement.

George left her with the remaining pieces of the chocolate and said, “You can eat them when you remember me.”

He realized the tremendous potential of the invention. He thought about marking it. Playing with a few names, he decided to simply call it the ‘Talking Chocolate’. That was the birth of a revolutionary new product!

He took the chocolates to a large manufacturer Cocoville Ltd. The CEO had to eat the talking chocolate to believe it! They entered into a royalty agreement with George to manufacture the talking chocolates in large quantities. They marketed the talking chocolates with various messages. ‘Happy birthday’, ‘I love you’, ‘Get well soon’, ‘Thank you’, ‘Congratulations’, etc. They were a great success. Chocolate sales skyrocketed. The brand was a real winner. But then there is a huge demand to make engravable chocolates where anyone can put their own personal message. Cocoville called George and gave him the problem.

George set out to try to find a solution to the popular demand. He made the base and mixed the Sodium Octavate into it but did not heat it. He simply rolled it into large 500g blocks and wrapped them in aluminum foil. He then took one of the slabs and melted it to a stirrable fluidity, spoke the words “Engravable Chocolate” and then chilled and froze it. He got the proof he wanted when he ate a piece and listened to the words he had recorded, ‘Recordable Chocolates’ as he chewed it. He had found the solution and he rushed her to Cocoville.

Cocoville marketed the Recordable Chocolate as a kit with a 500g slab and printed foil wrappers. There were instructions on how to carve the message into the chocolate by heating it until it was melted and stirrable, saying the words aloud to it, then freezing it. When it is cold and firm, cut it into pieces and wrap it in the wrappers provided with the kit. This was a great success story. Sales doubled. George was happy with the growing royalty!

But not all users put good words to chocolate. There were some mischievous brats who used the chocolates to threaten and harass the consumers. One such person, Anil, feels a chocolate with the words: ‘Anna, your husband Kevin is a bastard. He’s up to no good with a lady. She showed it to Kevin. He was furious and had his lawyers file a case against Anil in the law court for defamation. But Kevin couldn’t prove that the chocolate said the particular words to his wife Anna. They were said only once in his mouth and were never repeated. It was only his testimony that the chocolate did say it. The Court observed: “Assuming that what she said is true, even then the case does not stand as Anil has not said so in public. There are no witnesses. It is not a case that can be proved. Furthermore, Anil has not said the words to Anna. It is the chocolate that causes her to hear the words. Then it must be assumed that Anna spoke the words she heard. Her creation of the words could have been caused by a substance in the chocolate she ate, but she cannot counter Anil. The case is dismissed and Anil is acquitted.”

The decision caused a furor in public opinion. Does it mean that anyone can send any harmful message through a piece of chocolate and get away with it? Some people received legal messages that were nothing short of sexual harassment. A general line of advice passed down was not to eat the recordable chocolates, except from close family members and trusted friends.

But one day consumers started complaining to Cocoville that the talking chocolates had stopped talking! Magic was not found. Cocoville immediately alerted George. He took samples from various production batches and ate them. Not a single one said a word to him. Was over. He panicked and took a sample from Marian. She smiled and looked him square in the eye. She said: “The Bacillus Octavatilus strain must have mutated as these bacteria are not stable. I have been testing the master batches I had saved and they too have stopped producing octavic acid. Sorry there is nothing I can do about it. Its ability to produce the acid is gone. We have to forget about that.”

George crestfallen returned to Cocoville. The unique selling proposition of Speaking Chocolate and Recording Chocolate was gone. Now they were no different than regular chocolates. Cocoville’s CEO brought together marketing experts from his company to review the situation. They analyzed the problem and came to the conclusion that the essential attribute of the Speaking and Recordable chocolates was to convey a message with the chocolate. True, the ability to talk about the chocolate was a trick to initiate the consumer, but it was just a way of communicating the message. Why not consider alternative forms of communication? Why not leave a place for the buyer to write the message on the package itself? And they must differentiate the new product since the ability to speak was gone and he could not spell the greeting in his mouth.

Cocoville put together a marketing plan to launch a new product called ‘Silent Eloquence’. These chocolates were just like their normal product line but with a label or a place on the package to write a personal message. The net bag containing individually wrapped chocolate pieces or the packaging box containing the pieces carried an ornate blank label on which the sender could write a greeting message. For 100g to 500g brick slabs there would be a cream rectangular place to write the greeting. The advertising campaign for Silent Eloquence chocolates was: ‘Silence is more eloquent than words! Taste the message while you chew. It was a campaign to turn lapse into an asset!

Silent Eloquence chocolates were a great success. They exploited the idea of ​​giving a message with chocolate. The message was not oral, it was written on the package and it was personal. There was no fear of bullying. The product concept attracted the market. And sales that were doomed to fail skyrocketed beyond their most optimistic projections! And that’s thanks to the marketing nerds’ knack for product analysis, planning, and positioning!