s must be given to the supervisors

I. The French ice cream market

The Persians ate ice creams, The Greeks and Romains prepared them with honey and fruit juice
poured into holes kept cold with snow. The Chinese used to make them all year round, by pouring a
mixture of water and saltpeter on the container and Marco Polo imported this production secret into
Italy in the 13th century. Ice cream used to be initially restricted to royal tables, but modern
refrigeration made them more common.

A. The products

The main ingredients used in ice cream production are milk, eggs, sugar and flavouring products.
They are mixed with natural (pectin, gelatine, egg whites) or artificial stabilisers , which slow down
the mixture crystallisation and increase its viscosity.

The ice cream market is first split based on the products’ ingredients:

The market offer further splits depending on the products’ formats:

- Sticks were initially for children only, but adult-targeted offers have been launched more
recently
- Ice cream bars are also individual products
- Pots (from 100 ml to 500ml): the product is eaten by a single person or shared but eaten
directly from the pot
- Tubs contain 1 litre or more, the product is not eaten straight from the tub.
- Specialties to share are frozen cakes or puddings.
-
B. Consumers and their purchasing behaviours
With 84% penetration, ice cream is popular in France, even though with 6 litres consumed annually
per person, yearly expenses of €45 per household and 7.9 purchases a year, the French remain way
below the European average (7.6 litres annually per person), the Swedes and the Italians (14 and
11.2 litres annually per person respectively).

Ice cream is an indulgent non-essential product that French people go on buying to treat themselves
in spite of the economic crisis. This is a market where purchases are essentially impulse-driven and
strongly impacted by seasonality (80% of sales are scored from April to September and the
exceptional heatwave in the summer 2017 caused sales to soar by +10% vs 2016). While promotions
stimulate sales on this market, innovation is also an important driver, which explains why total prices
increased by 2.2% in 2017.

Paradoxically, while the state insists on the concept of nutritional balance for health reasons, and in
spite of the shrinking purchasing power, demand is evolving towards products that are

- Smaller: with meal de-structuration, ice cream is not necessarily a dessert to share with
the family, but a little pleasure consumers can indulge any time, including in between
meals.
- Increasingly indulgent with milk, cream, chocolate, with inclusions of bits of cookies,
nuts, chocolate or sauce
- And more generally increasingly sophisticated, recipes are increasingly indulgent or
exotic and surprising (violet, vine peach, liquorice, or yuzu, a tarty Japanese lemon). The
market is ‘premiumising’.

Sales

Ice cream is a product mainly eaten at home and out-of-home catering only accounts for 28% of the
volumes. This distribution network is hit more than others by the shrinking purchasing power as
consumers increasingly prefer buying ice cream to eat it at home.

The different types of products are succeeding differently:

2014 value market shares %

Pots & small pots 15.2%
Tubs 20.3%
Cones 23.7%
Sticks 31.2%
Children 7.5%
Specialties to share 2.1%

C. Competitors

Gigantic groups are competing on the ice cream market.

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 Euro MS HM & SM 2017
others; 5,80%

PLBs; 19,50%
Unilever; 31,50%

Haagen Dazs;
11,40%

Froneri (Nestlé+
Mars; 7,50% R&R); 24,30%

Froneri is the result of the merger between the frozen food and ice cream activities of Nestlé and R&R,
but the Nestlé brand name still appears on the products.

Nestlé is active on several segments:

Segment Brand

Extrême: market leader. This range has 18

flavours, mostly milk-based ice creams: vanilla
Cones pecan, speculoos, rum raisin, but also 3 sorbets:
red berries, coconut-tropical fruit, lemon
raspberry.

La Laitière: brand launched in 1973 on the yogurt

and dairy pudding market, extended in 2002 onto
Tubs (430g) ice creams. This brand only offers ice creams, 17
flavours in tubs: red berries parfait with meringue,
chocolate with salt flower…

2 flagship brands:
Children . Smarties : mini pots or cones of ice cream
products sprinkled with Smarties
. Pirulo fruit flavoured water ice

Mystère Extreme: individual ice creams often

Individual
covered with chocolate with a chocolate or
specialties
meringue heart

R&R was founded when the British Richmond Foods partnered with the German Roncadin in 2006. The
corporate strategy is peculiar in the sense that it combines producing ice creams for Private Labels and
for its ‘own’ brands, which are often licensed.

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R&R thus adapted several
confectionery brands belonging to
Mondelez: Milka, Daim, Oreo, each
of them on several segments:
cones, sticks, pots and mini pots:

But also beverage brands adapted

on the stick, cone, tubs or
individual specialties segments:

And finally, cartoon characters and

concepts or comics

Häagen Dazs offers super premium ice cream (price per litre above €10 while the market average is
around €4). These quality products are rich and sophisticated, with no colouring or additives. Their
indulgent flavours provide original combinations of tastes and textures. They target young well-off
urban people and
- Focus on that elite with their high prices and their 17
exclusive stores spread among major towns. A menu of
23 exclusive ice creams is served there on top of the
large number of flavours also available in mass retailing.
- Play on sensuality with indulgent flavours and very
often scorching hot ad campaigns. The latest features
Bradley Cooper, the American actor voted “sexiest man
on the planet” in 2011.

These products were initially sold in 500ml pots with suggestive names (Macadamia nut Brittle,
Strawberry Cheesecake, Chocolate midnight cookies), then in single flavoured packs of 2 or 4 100ml
mini pots (Triple sensation Speculoos caramel desire) or combinations of 2 to 4 different flavours (see
appendix). The brand then opened to fruity flavours with ice creams (strawberry, mango, banana), and
then to sorbets (mango, raspberry).

Mars has extended its chocolate bar range onto the ice cream market, simply adapting the concepts to
ice creams.

Private Labels are the number 3 actors on this market with market shares substantially below what
they score on other frozen food segments (60%). They are present on all the segments: ice creams and
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sorbets, tubs, cones, pots, individual and sharing specialties and children products. Unlike most of
other markets, they are losing grounds on the ice cream market, due to 2 factors:

- The consumers’ hedonistic motivation on that market makes them relatively insensitive to price
- national brands’ constant innovation and promotional activity, enables them to constantly keep
ahead of the game on this market.

II. Unilever : the market leader

Unilever is a British-Dutch corporation, which is active on several markets

(detergents, cosmetics, cooking aids…). It is also the leader on the ice cream market
with several strong brands. Miko covers several segments:

Carte d’Or is a brand created in 1978 on the catering market (as its name
suggests1). It is now also sold in mass retailing and is the undisputed leader
on the tub segment. It offers gourmets original recipes and a very broad
choice of over 15 ice creams (dark chocolate, Madagascar vanilla, fleur de
sel caramel, nougat, speculoos…) and 8 sorbets (strawberry, raspberry,
lemon, mango, apple…). Because there is always a good reason to indulge,
Carte d’Or is eaten with the family at the end of the meal, or for an
indulgent snack. As its slogan says, ‘if you have Carte d’Or, you have a
dessert’…

Magnum was created in 1989 to satisfy the unashamed greed of adults. It

turned the stick segment around. This segment was previously limited to
children, but Magnum launched much larger products (120ml) and much
more indulgent and sensual products (rich vanilla ice cream covered with
thick dark of milk chocolate). The brand initiated the super-premium ice
cream segment, dedicated to adult indulgence. From its launch, its ads
stood out, as the films were definitely intense and focusing on the
unashamed pleasure of tasting that indulgent ice cream. Today, its broad
range of luxurious sticks with velvety ice creams, sometimes smothered
with thick tasty sauce and covered with delicious thick crisp chocolate
(see appendix) makes it the brand number 1 on the market.

Cornetto was created in 1960 when an ice cream maker from Naples managed to isolate the wafer
from the ice cream with a sugar, chocolate and oil coating, so that it could stay
crisp till the end of the tasting. Cornetto is the symbol of the Italian dolce vita and
love is at the center of its communication, because cones are all about passion.
This is the cone segment challenger. Its velvety ice creams presented in crisp
wafers are organised into 2 lines: one sold in mass retailers and one in out-of-
home catering networks in an XXL format (160ml). The mass retailing line is sold in
packs of 4. Unlike Extrême, the leader, its cones have a metly heart of creamy

1
Carte is the French for menu
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sauce.

Vienetta initiated the specialties to share segment 25 years ago. These are
unique elegant indulgent desserts that everybody loves. They are shared with
the family or friends. Its waves of airy ice cream alternating with layers of
crisp chocolate makes your mouth water. This combination of melting and
crispy sensations delivers its rich flavours in an intense moment of pleasurer.

Solero offers fruity sticks to adults looking for a low calorie snack (99 calories).
Solero exotic is a vanilla ice cream mixed with a fruity sauce and covered with exotic
fruit sorbet. It has no colouring and a high fruit content. Solero Mojito is a Mojito
lemon lime flavoured water ice with a heart of minti and lemon lime (0.5° alcohol)

The children range entails products sold in out-of-home catering networks (mostly little water ice
sticks with attractive flavours, which colour the tongue or not (fruit, bubble
gum, cola) but also vanilla ice cream sticks covered in chocolate or smothered
with strawberry sauce with Haribo gummy bears. The products sold in mass
retailing are single-brand packs or combinations of the products sold in out-of-
home catering.

Ben & Jerry’s is not sold under the Miko umbrella. The brand was created in
Vermont in 1977 by childhood friends whose objective was to produce the best ice
cream possible with good milk, natural ingredients and wild recipes with huge
chunks, in the best possible way, because they thought their company should change
the world. It was bought out by Unilever in 2000, but the brand remained true to its
taste and social values and due to its commtiments towards fair trade, all its ice
creams have been Max Havelaar certified since 2012. Ben & Jerry’s thus manages to
be an indulgent brand with a conscience, which is epxressed in its off-the-wall communication that
teenagers and young adults love. Its sophisticated ice creams welcome new flavours every year and
are sold in pots and mini-pots both in mass retailing and it its own stores for €12 to €15 a litre.

III. The environment

A. The legal environment

Since February 2007 it is compulsory for foods and beverages where sugar, sweeteners or salt are
added to post one of the following messages in their ads: “for your health eat at least 5 fruits or
vegetables a day”, “for your health, exercise regularly”, “for your health, do not heat too fat, salty or
sweet food”, “for your health do not snack in between meals”

B. National brands’ activities

Product innovation

In order to boost demand on this impulse-driven market, national brands are constantly looking for
innovations to launch.

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Haägen Dazs was historically operating on the pot
segment, but is broadening its portfolio with new
sticks and sandwiches called “cream crisp”

Froneri is relaunching La Laitière range with

transparent vertical tubs which lead to give in to
temptation, with indulgent recipes, e.g. vanilla
toffee apples, or chunky recipes combining crispy
caramelised hazelnuts or toffee with indulgent
caramel sauce, and biscuit chunks in vanilla ice
cream

Mars is broadening its M&Ms stick line with 2 new

variants: peanut butter caramel and peanut butter
chocolate, and its bar line with Mars Signature
which includes crunchy almonds, Twix Speculoos
and Twix cappuccino
Unilever
Offers its ice cream maker know-how to Ferrero,
who combines it with its chocolate and hazelnuts
to launch a line of Kinder ice creams adapting its
confectioneries, with a Kinder Bueno cone
Carte d’Or launches an organic line: vanilla,
chocolate, coffee, pistachio
Magnum, the flagship brand of ice cream sticks,
also enters the tub segment with an indulgent ice
cream line covered with a chocolate layer, which
consumers are invited to crack by squeezing the
tub before digging in.
Ben & Jerry’s launches an indulgent but vegan line
made of almond milk and a ‘topped’ line of ice
cream tubs covered with melting chocolate and
chocolate chips

Promotion

On top of the ad campaigns supporting the major launches, brands are creative in order to
emphasize and publicize their products. Häagen Dazs is cooperating with TF1VOD channel enabling
viewers to order ice cream and have it delivered within 40 minutes between 6 and 10pm in Paris and
then Lyons.

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 Ben & Jerry’s is extending its campaign called
« quand c’est fondu, c’est foutu 2” to engage its
fans to join the cause and push governments to
reach an agreement to limit global warming.
An online and a paper petition have thus been
opened to gather signatures during eco-responsible festivals such as Rock en Seine. Similarly, the
brand organises eco-citizen marches on this topic from June to December and also sponsors Solidays,
the rock festival whose profits are invested in charities fighting AIDS.

After Haagen Dazs, Magnum becomes

the official ice cream for the French
Open. All Unilever ice creams are
promoted onsite and a ‘dipping bar’
enables passers-by to customise their
ice creams with additional ingredients.
Besides, that same dipping bar was set up for 2 weeks in June in Carrefour Montesson.

Distribution

Complementing its mass retail distribution,

Haagen Dazs also runs 67 of its own or
franchised stores boutiques in France where
not only its flagship products are sold, but also
some flavours exclusively available in that
network with additional toppings, frozen
creations, cakes and even hot beverages.
These are unique experiences to taste directly
in the stores or to take away products such as
chocolate muffins with three ice cream scoops
and sprinkled with speculoos bits. More
recently, Miko launched something similar with 7 ‘Happiness Stations’ where consumers can create
their dream ice creams based on the products on the portfolio plus toppings (among which the
famous Magnum chocolate), fruit bits, chocolate flakes…

Questions
All your answers must be duly justified to open right to marks.

A. Product
1. What is the positioning of the Carte d’Or, Magnum, Cornetto, Solero and Ben & Jerry’s
brands.
Carte d’Or offers ice creams and sorbets just as good as those eaten in restaurants to share
with family or friends for dessert.
Magnum offers very indulgent sticks and now tubs of velvety smooth ice cream smothered
with succulent crunchy chocolate for adults openly asserting their own indulgence
throughout the day

2
When it is melted it is ruined
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 Cornetto offers Italian style ice creams in an excellent crunchy wafer cone for a taste of dolce
vita at the end of a meal or in between meals
Solero offers deliciously fruity flavoured refreshing sticks for adults to enjoy a little pleasure
without too many calories
Ben & Jerry’s offers wacky young people ice cream tubs made with good authentic
ingredients following indulgent recipes combining flavours and textures for maximum
pleasure, while taking are of the planet through its social and environmental commitments

2. Why do confectionery brands such as M&Ms, Mars or Kinder diversify onto the ice cream
market?

It is a way to meet the consumer needs they could not on the confectionery segment. They
thus increase the opportunities to consume and use the original brand positioning and
awareness to launch their new line extensions

4. Based on the supplied document in appendix, what are the following dimensions?
- Breadth of the Haagen Dazs range? 4
- Length of the Haagen Dazs tub 410 to 430g line? 22

B. Price

1. Unilever observed the following evolutions on its ice cream sales:

Calippo 6-pack Ben & Jerry’s Cookie dough 500ml
T0 T1 T0 T1
Sales (units) 500,000 453,000 248,000 250,500
Price (€) 2.42 2.56 4.66 4.71
Compute the price elasticity of demand in each case. Comment these results. (2 mark)
Twix : e=[(453/500)-1]/ =[(2.75/2.73)-1]=-2.13. Negative elasticity, which is the most common
situation, |e|>1, demande is thus highly elastic to price: when prices slightly increase, demand drops
2.85 times faster.
HD : e= =[(250.5/248)-1]/ =[(4.46/4.56)-1]=+0.44. positive elasticity, i.e. the higher the price, the more
demanded the product. There is a fashion dimension involved in HD ice creams, which behave as
Veblen products. |e|<1, demand is thus slightly elastic to price, when prices increase, demand
increases 0.44 times as fast.

2. Unilever sells its ice creams to Carrefour. If the tax rate is 5.5% fill in the empty boxes in the
following tables (show your computations).

Carte d’Or Organic chocolate Ben & Jerry’s salted caramel brownie

Before tax 3.60x(1-0.3)=2.52 1.87/0.48=3.90

purchasing price
Before tax profit 3.60-2.52=1.08 1.87

Gross margin 1.08/2.52=42.9% 48%

Mark up 30% 1.87/5.78=32.4%

Before tax selling 3.80/1.055=3.60 3.90+1.87=5.78

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 price

Retail price 3.80 5.78x1.055=6.1

C. Distribution
1. What is (are) the distribution strategy (ies) used used by Haagen Dasz? How do you justify it
(them)?

Haagen Dazs follows a double distribution strategy:

- Intensive when its products are selling in mass retailing. This enables them to as
accessible as possible to consumes since Haagen Dazs is a strong brand and their ice
creams reach 86.5% penetration in France.
- Exclusive when they are sold in Haagen Dazs stores, which only sell Haagen Dazs
products. This enables to emphasize the brand with product combinations, toppings, and
sauces exclusively offered on consumers’ demand. This therefore highlights the exclusive
side of the brand with a menu made up of sophisticated products.

D. Promotion
1. According to you, what are the objectives and targets of the communication actions
developed to support the launch of Magnum tubs? Justify your answer(s)?
target Objective
Advertising
End-caps and in-store
displays
Animation/ tasting
Immediate rebates
- advertising support on the media commonly used for ice creams: TV, women’s and cooking
magazines, urban posters to publicize the launch and induce consumers to find it in stores +
announcement on the brand website & serving suggestions, recipes, asking consumers for
their recipes + mentioning cooking bloggers’ websites and brand FB page
- end caps & in-store displays to enhance the product visibility and induce impulse purchase
just before the high season, so that consumers are already used to buying the product during
the high season
- Animation/ tasting in the largest POS where the products are selling to publicize them: their
flavours, their texture, the unique experience on the market to have the chocolate crust
crack before tasting, because tasting is the only things that can give that unique consumer
experience
- immediate rebate to lift the initial financial restraint and induce impulse purchase. The
product quality should then convince consumers to buy again

2. Explain the interest ice cream brands mentioned find in using social networks.
The ice cream brands mentioned as particularly active on social networks all target high-
income, young urban connected consumers. They resort to social networks to create closer
relationships with their consumers so that they are more engaged with their brands. They
hope this engagement is excluding the other ice cream brands, so that they become
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 exclusive consumers of that specific brand. Advertisers not only show their activity on social
networks as a proof they are as trendy and connected as their consumers. But they are also
discussing issues of interest with them (e.g. environmental commitments), or ask them to
take part in the definition of the brand policy (product or com), thus increasing their
proximity with a brand they contribute to shaping up the way they want. This engagement
on social networks also enables consumers to get some psychic income (positive feeling
about oneself to have contributed, to have one’s productions or suggestions posted on the
brand website…)

3. Reconstruct the copy strategy of the Magnum tub film featured in appendix and analyse its
catch phrase.

Target: young Magnum female consumers looking for a pleasure moment

Promise: Magnum ice cream is now available in tubs

Reason why: the magnum sensuous experience is taken a step further with the tub format

Tone: industrial while sensual: the ingredients and the production process make you mouth
water, the thick chocolate crusted branded Magnum is the guarantee of a quality experience

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APPENDICES

Häagen Dasz range

New collection : coco chocolate, peanut butter crunch,

coco passion fruit
Creation : salted caramel cheese cake, hazel crunch,
banana cream explosion, strawberry cheese cake
Vanillas : vanilla pecan, vanilla, pralines & cream, cookies &
410 to 430g cream, cookie dough chip, macadamia nut brittle
tubs Caramels : dulce de leche, salted caramel, caramel biscuit
& cream speculoos
Frozen yogurt : strawberry
Milk & cream : honey walnut & cream
Chocolate: dark chocolate & almond, chocolate fondant
Fruit: strawberry & cream, mango & raspberry
Flower collection : 2 x cherry blossom + 2x lavender &
blueberry
Coconut attraction: 2x coconut chocolate + 2x coconut
passion fruit
Iconic selection : salted caramel
Frozen yogurt selection : 2 x strawberry + 2 x plain
Vanilla attraction : 1 macadamia nut brittle + 1 cookies &
cream + 1 pralines & cream + 1 vanilla
Chocolate attraction: 1 choc choc chip + 1chocolate,
pralines & caramel + 1chocolate & cookies + 1 Belgian
chocolate
Original selection: 1 pralines & cream + 1 chocolate,
pralines & caramel + 1strawberry cheesecake + 1 caramel
Mini pots 4
biscuit & cream speculoos
pots of 87g
Favorite selection: 1 vanilla caramel & brownie + 1
macadamia nut brittle +1 cookies & cream +1 banana &
cream
Fruit attraction: 1 strawberries & cream + 1 mango &
cream + 1 summer berries & cream + 1 banana & cream
Sorbet attraction: 2 mango + 2 raspberry
Salted caramel: x4
Caramel attraction: 1 salted caramel + 1vanilla caramel
brownies+ 1caramel biscuits & cream speculoos + 1 dulce
de leche
Triple sensation: x4

Standard : 3 x 70g: single flavour

Peanut butter crunch, cookies & cream, vanilla pecan,
caramel biscuit cream speculoos, mango & raspberry,
white & almond, vanilla caramel & almond, macadamia nut
brittle, salted caramel
Sticks
Mini sticks: 5 x 37g
2 macadamia nut brittle + 3salted caramel, 2 peanut butter
crunch + 3 salted caramel, 2 choc choc almond + 3 vanilla
caramel almond, 2 vanilla caramel almond + 3 salted
caramel, 5 salted caramel
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 Single flavoured bowxes : Double caramel, cookies &
Cream Crisp cream
2 x 35g

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Magnum tub ad

New Magnum Now in tubs

She squeezes the tub and a

crack is heard

Carefully made to be broken New from Magnum