Innovative marketing activity is especially apparent within the ice cream category, reports Jonathan Thomas.
Marketing remains as important as ever in the frozen foods industry. With competition from other sectors of the food industry – with the fresh/chilled category representing the most obvious example – manufacturers of frozen foods face ongoing challenges to appeal to consumers. The European population is growing ever more sophisticated and demanding in its tastes, whilst the weak state of the region’s economy means that more people are seeking out value for money when grocery shopping.
The Continued Importance of Marketing
Rather worryingly, recent data indicates that the amount of space dedicated to frozen foods by the UK’s major supermarkets is in decline, by up 10% in some instances. Reasons for this include the perception that the fixture is generally uninviting (mainly because products tend to be stored behind glass doors), as well as its frequently ‘commoditized’ appearance. The continued challenge facing the European frozen foods industry can be illustrated by the results of a Harris poll of 2,000 consumers carried out in the UK during 2015. This found that almost a third (32%) of respondents felt that frozen food was inferior to its chilled counterpart, which suggests that the category retains an image problem with large sections of the population. The perception of frozen food being inferior was strongest amongst males (34% versus 29% of female respondents) and the younger age groups, i.e. those aged 16-34.
Other notable findings from the survey included concerns over the quality of frozen food (mentioned by 57% of those negatively inclined towards the sector) and being deterred by food scandals such as horsemeat (mentioned by 17%). Furthermore, 10% claimed the choice of products offered by the frozen foods sector was too small, whilst 8% said the category possessed a lack of decent brands. In the light of attitudes such as these, it should come as no surprise that marketing personnel are having to become ever more innovative in order to win over consumers. Examples of recent marketing activity are now analyzed, drawing from industry sectors such as ice cream, frozen potato products and frozen bakery goods.
Magnum
Marketing activity for Unilever’s Magnum brand, one of the leaders in the European ice cream market, has been especially apparent of late. Not only is it one of the most active on social media platforms such as Facebook, but it has been the subject of several high-profile campaigns within the last couple of years. In 2016, for example, the brand partnered with Shazam (a music identification app which connects artists with fans) to launch Magnum Double, under the tagline ‘Release the Beast.’ This campaign took place in the UK, Ireland, Spain, Italy and Turkey. In the UK, the launch of Magnum Double (varieties of which included Double Caramel and Double Peanut Butter) was supported by a GBP13m campaign.
The previous year saw the UK launch of a GBP13m multimedia campaign for the Magnum brand by Unilever, dubbed ‘Pink or Black.’ This campaign invited consumers to choose which one of two new flavors – namely Pink Raspberry and Black Espresso – they preferred, with the iconic London Eye then being lit up with the winning flavor’s color. The campaign also included a Magnum-branded Pleasure Store in central London, which was open throughout the summer for nine weeks. This latest marketing tactic serves as an example of a pop-up store, a short-term sales space used to build up interest in selected brands and/or products.
Ben & Jerry’s
Another Unilever ice cream brand, Ben & Jerry’s, is also worthy of special consideration given its historical association with political and environmental issues. In the autumn of 2015, the company launched a new ice cream flavor named Save Our Swirled, consisting of raspberry, blackberry, chocolate and marshmallow. This was positioned as a ‘socially conscious’ product, intended to inspire consumers to demand action on climate change by switching to cleaner forms of energy. The company’s other NPD continues to focus upon ethical issues, such as use of Fairtrade ingredients. The Ben & Jerry’s brand is one of the ice cream market’s strongest users of social media. It is believed to reach approximately 10 million US consumers via Instagram, often to promote new products and flavors. The brand frequently asks for customer feedback to incorporate into its marketing strategy via social media, such as ideas for new flavors.
Social Media
In addition to the two examples listed above, most of the other leading brands within the frozen food sectors under review have a social media presence. Ice cream brands represent the most-liked on Facebook pages. This is perhaps a reflection of their widespread popularity amongst the younger age groups, who tend to be the heaviest users of social media. The leading brands are Magnum and Ben & Jerry’s, with 12.2m and 8.4m ‘likes’ respectively. Also featured in the list above are a couple of UK ice cream brands which place a strong focus upon their local heritage, namely Mackie’s and Kelly’s of Cornwall – these are based in Scotland and Cornwall respectively.
Significant other brands include Aunt Bessie’s and McCain. The latter – which changed its brand identity for the first time in 50 years a few years ago – continues to make significant use of what are termed ‘online influencers’, i.e. food bloggers and vloggers (i.e. video-bloggers). McCain has also tapped into the aforementioned trend towards pop-up stores, having previously established a roast potato experience in London as a way of increasing its presence in the UK market for frozen roast potatoes.
TV Sponsorships
A glance at the UK’s prime-time television landscape shows that sponsorship by food companies remains strong. In 2015, for example, McCain UK renewed its sponsorship of Emmerdale for a further three years. Elsewhere, the same year saw the Aunt Bessie’s brand sign a three-year sponsorship deal worth GBP6m with the reality TV show I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, replacing frozen food retailer Iceland. Aunt Bessie’s is now owned by William Jackson Food Group and competes in sectors such as frozen meat pies, baked puddings and cakes.
This deal includes extensive social media activity, including the launch of the first app dedicated to the program. To further reinforce its links with the program, the Aunt Bessie’s brand was extended in 2016 with a new frozen dessert. Dingo Dollar dessert pie was made with chocolate brownie, and was topped with white chocolate stars.
Mealtime Occasions
Another tactic which is increasingly being employed by companies in the frozen foods industry at present is linking their products with particular mealtime or eating occasions. In some cases, this has been done to reinforce the relationship between a frozen food and the time of the day in which it is traditionally eaten, or alternatively to develop new occasions as a way of growing the market. One notable example was the GBP8m TV campaign by McCain UK in the autumn of 2015, which appeared under the strapline ‘family teatime.’ This was intended to reaffirm the link between McCain’s potato products and family dining occasions during late afternoon/early evening. It was claimed that featuring real life families from across the UK and their experiences, added to the authentic feel of the adverts, while at the same time emphasizing the fact that teatime is considered a key eating occasion for McCain’s potato products.
More recently, Hollands Pies (which is part of 2 Sisters Food Group) launched a new campaign early in 2017. This aimed to encourage workers to take a proper lunch break, in the wake of company research which found that just 38% of local employees regularly did so. Late the previous year, Hollands had launched Micro 2 Go Slices, microwaveable slices in flavors such as Chicken Balti and Peppered Steak, which claimed to deliver an ‘oven baked’ taste in less than two minutes. This serves as another example of a marketing strategy focused upon a particular time of day, based upon a recently-launched product.
Other Branding Activity
Branding remains at the forefront of much of the marketing activity taking place within the industry at present. A change of direction for the Birds Eye brand was announced in the autumn of 2016 – according to owner Nomad Foods, the ‘masterbrand’ strategy used for Birds Eye for the last 10 years was to be scrapped. Instead, marketing and promotional activity for the brand will now be more product-specific, in recognition of prevailing consumer behavioral trends. Early efforts have focused upon sectors such as fish fingers and frozen peas, with packaging used for differentiation purposes – for example, fish species has been given more emphasis.
Within the last couple of years, a change of direction for the Haagen-Dazs brand has also taken place in some Western European markets. Activity has moved away from fashion and celebrities, in favor of a greater focus upon the quality of the product’s ingredients. During 2015, Haagen-Dazs ice cream sticks were revamped in the French market, for example. The products featured improved chocolate quality and a softer and creamier ice cream texture, as well as redesigned packaging.
