Is There Still Room For More Ice Cream?

I was recently introduced to an absolutely delicious ice cream brand called Gelupo. Now I know you are thinking is this yet another great food brand Norman gets to work on and enjoy eating in the evenings? Well, not quite, but I have become most interested in the brand and the business because of the crowded market place in which it is operating and its distinct product offering. Looking at this made me consider some pertinent questions for start-up businesses.

Firstly Gelupo is not just an ice cream. It’s much more in several ways. Gelupo makes Gelati (or ice cream as we call it), Sorbets and Granitas – a semi frozen desert only made well in Italy in my experience! But secondly Gelupo is not just an ice cream or even a desert brand, it is an authentic ice cream parlour linked to a successful delicatessen. So this means that both the product offering is highly differentiated to a normal ice cream brand but perhaps of more significance is that the business model and brand proposition also need to be very different from other ice cream businesses in the main stream retail markets.

To me Gelupo stands the best chance of long term success by placing people right at the heart of the brand. This is both different and remarkable within the market I think particularly if it is underpinned by a rigorous recruitment programme to find highly credible, natural brand ambassadors to work in the parlours and a rollout of parlour stores in strategic locations. The brand does have some health claims that come from using less cream in the product – but in my view this is not different and is poorly marketed/communicated, and does not drive the consumer to want to eat the ice cream anyway. Ice Cream is ice cream – if you want to lose weight you don’t eat it!

I also think the brand needs to fully commit to its proposition whichever way it wants to go. This is something I see in FMCG fairly often. It is no longer enough to say your food is the best because you know where it originates from or because you have some great flavour concepts. Yes these are very important but you have to tell the consumer why they are important – you must commit. Is Gelupo the world’s best tasting ice cream because of where it comes from, or is it a unique taste that everyone should try at least once because of where it comes from? The flavour names sound exciting, but what is the inspiration behind them? Where do all the ingredients come from? Who makes these recipes and of most importance (and commitment) why should customers know and love this story?

Alongside a roll out of ice cream parlours, either through financing or franchising, the business could also move into traditional retail. This would be a brave move requiring substantial marketing investment of course, but the question I would ask before that is “what is the right business model to make this brand flourish?” A large retail contract with an outsourced production solution always seems easy and very attractive. But what if people are the most attractive part of the proposition and the bit that’s remarkable. Can this be carried through to a differentiated retail offering? I think it can but it is far from easy and needs a full marketing mix maximising the use of social media and PR to work alongside retail implementation to preserve the brand.

To me Gelupo is a brand to watch and one that can definitely flourish. I would offer up that a critical aspect of that success will be a commitment to the brand that consumers can see, and the integration of its branded proposition to its business model for growth. These must work in harmony or as we have all seen with some large high profile brands recently, consumers spot the disconnect and loose belief in the brand.

Keep an eye on http://www.gelupo.com/index.php

Dec 10

2010

comments

By Norman

In Books I Like!, Marketing Consultant Resources

Tags brands marketing

Unleashing The Idea Virus

I picked up this book having read it a few years ago when it was first published. The first thing that is of interest is the fact it is written pre the social media explosion. I think there is some internet thinking in the book, and free email has taken off, but just Seth’s thoughts at the time are interesting and act as a great insight into how the social media landscape has changed marketing opportunities for both new and existing businesses.

The book is a Seth Godin classic, in terms of how it is written, its language and how it challenges the reader.

In this book Seth essentially relates the idea of marketing a concept to a potential market to spreading a virus like a cough or cold. But whereas you may not want to spread a cough or cold, he asks, if you did how would you do it, what would you look for, and if you can understand this can you translate it into a marketing strategy.

So the essence of the book:-

Well firstly do you have a virus – do you have something good enough to easily spread from person to person, is your product and message good enough and compelling enough?

Can you find a concentration of people who are all particularly susceptible to your virus – do you have a market segment which is tightly defined and easily accessible?

Can you find someone who is really good at sneazing and coughing, because they are the most likely to get your virus to spread – can you find brand ambassadors who are a) respected and b) happy to talk about your brand?

Have you made it easy for the virus to spread – if I like your brand, how easy is it for me to share it with someone else?

Seth argues as he often does in his books that any brand regardless of size or financial resources can adopt these methods to create highly compelling propositions and supporting marketing campaigns that really work. I think challenges with electronic marketing and social media do exist and it is not always as easy as Seth makes it sounds, but I do think this is a good set of questions to ask before executing a marketing campaign. Strong positions targeting tightly defined market segments, underpinned by good communication undoubted win market share.

Nov 17

2010

comments

By Norman

In Marketing Consultant Resources, Personal Development, Project FB

Tags brands marketing marketing tools

Finding Consumer Groups That Mobilise Your Brand

We have all been hearing recently about “the big society”. But I was thinking that haven’t we always had a kind of big society, that is pockets and groups of people who are happy to get together to help make something happen or support a particular cause?

Over the last thirty years we have seen brand after brand align itself behind a particular cause or charity and then build a customer following of people who also share in that cause, charity or belief. With the emergence of social media tools and an explosion of information from both the internet and digital TV it has become easier to communicate with likeminded people, build a pool of people, and build a plan to make something happen.

I think that businesses with strong brands have a real opportunity here to get involved in “the big society” because of this. If a business / brand can find a problem that they can help to solve and then engage with a group of like minded individuals who are willing to also help, is there not an opportunity to marry up the resources of business with the resources of people and make something happen? I think the trick is to identify the audience that can mobilise each other into action and identify the problem and solution that motivates them and make sure all of this fits with the brand.

For example, many premium food brands tend to target “foodies”. There is a growing concern that young people in the UK do not know where food comes from. Does this not offer premium food brands an opportunity to engage with farmers, gardeners, allotment owners, and somehow build an education platform for schools to tap into? Would a food brand that developed such an educational programme involving food growers a) educate young people b) build stronger relationships with key suppliers c) build a new following of consumers from a non foodie community such as gardeners?

Consumers of products are buying into more and more causes that are interesting, compelling and relevant to them – because the internet enables them to. Marketers have an opportunity to respond to this and consider multiple segments to target for mobile, active and engaged consumers.

Sep 16

2010

comments

By Norman

In Project FB, Xtracts

Tags branding business models business strategy leadership marketing

A New Adventure – Project FB

This week I have started work on a new project. A small of team have developed a proto-type product which is receiving positive feedback from its target consumer and customer. The challenge is to take this idea, with all its positivity and possibility, and translate that into a commercial, successful business. My main input will be as a Marketing specialist or consultant, helping to develop the brand, its packaging, the key messages, identifying the main market segments to target, and trying to help gain that all important sales momentum. Alongside this focus, I will be using my MBA and business experience to give broader leadership to the project. Along with others in the team we will try and solve the issues which face all new businesses:-

– How do we fund initial product development?

– How do we robustly assess the product and how much potential customers really like it?

– How do we build an infra structure for the business?

– What resources do we need and what is the most effective way to buy those in a small business which has limited cash reserves?

I will be thinking about what I have learnt from reading books like Good to Great and Built to Last, from my MBA and Marketing Diploma, as well as the team building and project development strategies I learnt through Common Purpose.

More than that I hope that this part of my blog will become an interactive area where as people read and understand the challenges we face, they will interact and become participants in their own right, coming forward with their own experiences and suggestions.

It’s going to be a great journey – a chance to implement some learning’s gained, as well as gain some new insights “on the job”.

For reasons of confidentiality, I shall refer to this project as “Project FB”

Norman Comfort

Marketing Consultant

Jul 25

2010

comments

By Norman

In Low Carbon Economy, Personal Development, The Wider Topic Of Business

Tags Co2 environment green marketing norwich

Act On Co2

co2_chimney_image I have recently completed all six of the University of East Anglia’s Low Carbon Economy courses (part of the Evolve programme). It is a very interesting area in so many different ways. For me there are several topics of great interest and which offer up learning’s for other aspects of business as well as dealing with Carbon Reduction.

1) How do you measure the impact of doing business?

Well is seems to have taken some time, but governments, universities, and power companies have all produced useful calculators to help businesses measure the amount of carbon they produce. Smart meters can help businesses understand when and how they are producing carbon across any resource they may be using.

The more challenging questions are really about at what point does one company’s carbon emission end and another start within a supply chain, and how can all businesses in a supply chain avoid double counting or no counting.

For example, if a business which makes timber doors, imports wood from another country, is the carbon emitted in the milling process the responsibility of the wood supplier, or the door manufacturer?

2) How can you incentivise business?

The easy answer is to tax, right? But sometimes taxing doesn’t work. Either the taxes are not high enough, people refuse to pay them on mass, people avoid them by moving, or people simply pay them and continue as they were.

Carbon trading and reduction schemes are being piloted in Europe, The States, and in South America. Starting with large companies, FTSE 100 in the UK with some exemptions, governments are providing greater incentives to businesses through a credit trading scheme. At first the credits were given away too freely in both volume and value, but this is recognised now and the market is maturing. Furthermore, governments can intervene and buy credits, taking them out of the market and forcing companies in the market to work harder.

It is not a perfect system and it is yet to deliver real results, but it is interesting and it is starting to work.

cap-website-version 3) How can you incentivise the public?

Give them stuff for free, right? But sometimes that doesn’t work because if people don’t want something, it doesn’t matter what the price is, they just don’t want it.

So it isn’t about giving people things for free, it is about education. And that is bad news because education takes a long time, sometimes over several generations. Alongside education you need to give people opportunities. Better public transport, better ways to recycle, better cycle lanes, walk ways, smaller smart meters, wider availability of greener light bulbs, more web resources…… it all helps. My learning is that if you educate people and then provide them with opportunities to make decisions based on their own knowledge, they will change behaviour. But it takes time and it is expensive!

4) How do you manage the carbon cost of doing business?

Well just like with any business resources you have or have to buy.
– Cut waste, aim for zero!
– Use more efficient equipment
– Switch to less expensive equipment
– Capture, store, or offset the final costs

It is not easy, and it needs continual focus as with any cost reduction or cost management programme, but if you can get the business culture right along with understanding and consensus, it can be achieved.

greensavings

5) When tackling a global problem, can countries work independently?

This is something I really wrestle with. How can we make a difference if when we cut back our emissions, other countries like China are actually increasing theirs? Are we actually reducing our carbon in the UK, or are we simply getting other countries to do more of polluting for us? On the other hand, you have to start somewhere, and if nobody did anything, where would we be? I think as a country Great Britain does take initiative in so many ways and by doing this we build skills and knowledge faster than those around us. If we can use those resources to build new businesses or industries in our own country and others, then we get a return which is of great value. The Low Carbon economy is coming, so we need to understand it, be a leader in the discussion, and demonstrate cutting edge thinking to build credibility.

We cannot solve this problem alone, but if we lead, others will follow.

6) What is the tipping point required to get serious action?

world-environment-day-tree-image1

We don’t know the answer to that question yet. Our planet is being damaged and our climate is changing, but it is not significant enough or affecting enough of us to create global change. Something will happen that will immediately change people’s thoughts on a global basis but when or what it will be who knows. What I do know is that when humans want to, when they come together with a common purpose, they can do amazing things.

I have touched on many large issues in this post, so do feel free to get in touch if you would like to talk more about a particular point, or would like some more information.

Archives

Is There Still Room For More Ice Cream?

Unleashing The Idea Virus

Finding Consumer Groups That Mobilise Your Brand

A New Adventure – Project FB

Act On Co2