Creative challenge: can ice cream sell in any weather?

This article is part of our Ice Cream Report 2015.

Ice cream has an image problem; if the sun isn’t shining, consumers’ interest wanes. Given Britain’s questionable weather, ice cream manufacturers are in a rather precarious position.

Keeping consumers engaged with the category all year round could be the key to growth. Although 53% of consumers eat ice cream at home throughout the year, only 1% eats it in winter and 4% in the autumn compared to a 38% in the summer [Harris Interactive].

“There is an opportunity for brands here as they can stretch and scale a product to suit the different occasions,” says Jason Hartley, chief strategy officer at branding, design and innovation agency The Partners.

“Creating a product for a single occasion such as Mother’s Day or Christmas isn’t really worth it but creating a product that can gain traction and then creating special versions of it that can be ramped up and adapted to meet the needs at these different occasions is. Even if 30% of your revenue might come from a one off moment but to maintain and grow those revenues you’ve got to be in people’s minds all year round.”

So, what form could these products take? And what occasions will they tap into? We’ve asked The Partners to put on their thinking caps. Here are the results…

Frosting

It’s time for a celebaketion! Described as the icing on the frozen cake of desserts, Frosting is a great thing to have on standby for a last minute celebrations whether it’s for a birthday or an office party. The kit contains everything you need to create a delicious cake. You simply pluck it from the freezer, bake, cover it in frosting and stick a candle in the top. Voila! A deliciously warm cake to tuck into.

But where’s the ice cream? Here comes the clever bit: it’s based on the idea that you can bake ice cream. To do this, you melt a tub of ice cream and add flour then bake. Frosting takes the hassle out of the process, offering a pre-mixed, frozen version ready for the oven.The idea grew from a chocolate bombe, often presented in restaurants at special occasions with a candle in it.

“We like the idea of having a mini celebratory dessert,” says Greg Quinton, executive creative director at The Partners. “The thing with cake is your opportunity for a fresh one is limited, you either bake it yourself or buy one which could cause problems as celebrations are quite often spontaneous. You can just have a bunch of these in your freezer so you can give somebody a fresh cake that feels a bit special and not a hastily-bought cake that feels impersonal.”

018

Frozen alcohol is an up and coming trend;  018 takes the idea and flips it on its head to create boozy ice cream for grown-ups, complete with cocktail glasses. “If they’re not in a tub, ice creams can be quite childish,” believes Quinton. “If we take it into an adult sector and make it into more of a celebration it becomes a special moment rather than a cheap treat.”

018 mixes alcohol and indulgent pleasure to create frozen indulgence for adults, with all the sensual pleasure of ice cream with a warming buzz at the end. They come in shots, wine and cocktail variants and for those looking for something extra special, there’s a champagne variant. They can be enjoyed frozen or you can wait for it to melt and stick a straw in it!

Yours+Mine

Yours+Mine addresses one of the major issues in any relationship: who’s eaten the most ice cream. This is overcome thanks to the product’s innovative sharing format of having two tubs in one, so the product can be split by two people (or eaten by one greedy person).

It taps into the big night in occasion, and as Hartley explains, it’s not just for couples either. There’s room to adapt it for other special occasions or audiences. “The key part of the brand is the plus sign. Yours and mine could become Mum and Dad, Rudolph and Santa or for Mother’s Day Mum and Mum so she gets both halves,” he explains.

In this case, the plus sign is the common link throughout, acting as a logo and the colours would change with the flavours. “We like the idea of changing the copy on the inside as well so there is a special reveal on the inside, a bit like the lids of the Smarties pots – an extra bit of delight,” Quinton adds.

In partnership with

^{With studios in London, New York and Singapore, The Partners delivers brand strategy, innovation and creative ideas for clients including Deloitte, Vodafone, Coca Cola, Investec, Argos, The National Gallery and eBay. Over its 30-year history The Partners has won a host of distinguished industry awards, including 17 D&AD Pencils, and is the only brand agency to have won three Gold Lions at Cannes. The Partners is part of the WPP group. www.the-partners.com}