Lakrids_FinalProject_Miles_Tjørved_Zyryanov

DANISH SCHOOL OF MEDIA AND JOURNALISM
______________________________________________
CORPORATE COMMUNICATION
Final project
Lakrids by Johan Bülow in Amsterdam
Bogdan Vladimirovich Zyryanov
Kathrine Karoline Kesia Tjørved
Peter Sloth Miles
Copenhagen, 2016

Bogdan Vladimirovich Zyryanov, Kathrine Karoline Kesia Tjørved and Peter Sloth Miles 9th May, 2016
Final project for Corporate Communication, DMJX
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Table of contents
AUTHORSHIP RESPONSIBILITY 3
INTRODUCTION 4
PART I. ANALYSIS 5
LAKRIDS BY JOHAN BÜLOW IN AMSTERDAM: SITUATION ANALYSIS –
SWOT –
CORE STORY 6
BRAND IDENTITY 7
THE COMPANY’S CURRENT ADVERTISING AND COMMUNICATION –
CULTURE COMMUNICATION: MARKET RESEARCH 9
TARGET GROUPS –
SUMMARY OF THE ANALYSIS 11
PART II. COMMUNICATION STRATEGY 12
COMMUNICATION GOALS –
KEY THEMES 13
CHANNELS 14
INFLUENCERS 15
STRATEGY SUMMARY 16
PART III. COMMUNICATION PLAN 17
TIMEPLAN –
COMMUNICATION INITIATIVES –
SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN –
TRIP TO COPENHAGEN 18
SAMPLING BY THE EMPLOYEES –
SAMPLING BY PROMOTION GIRLS –
WRAPPING 19
EMAIL FOR WELCOMING EMPLOYEES –
INVITATION FOR INFLUENCERS –
GIFT BASKET WITH INVITATION 20
VIP EVENT –
SPEECH BY JOHAN BÜLOW –
SHOP OPENING –
FAÇADE OF POP-UP STORE 21
TOURIST GUIDES, WEBSITES AND APPS –
PRESS RELEASE –
PHOTOS AND VIDEOS FROM EVENTS 22
B2B PARTNERSHIPS –
EVENTS CALENDAR –
MICHELIN CHEF EVENTS 23
MAKE YOUR OWN CHOCOLATE COVERED LIQUORICE EVENT + AUTOGRAPH SIGNING –
FRIDAY NIGHT BAR PARTIES –
PLANS FOR FUTURE EVENTS 24
EVALUATION –
CONCLUSION 25
REFERENCES 26

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Authorship responsibility
Section Bogdan V.
Zyryanov
Kathrine K. K.
Tjørved
Peter S.
Miles
Introduction 20% 20% 60%
SWOT 40% 40% 20%
Core story 15% 15% 70%
Brand identity 15% 70% 15%
The company’s current advertising
and communication
15% 15% 70%
Culture communication: Market
research
70% 15% 15%
Target groups 30% 40% 30%
Communication goals 33% 33% 33%
Key themes 30% 10% 60%
Channels 30% 40% 30%
Influencers 70% 15% 15%
Timeplan 70% 15% 15%
Communication initiatives 33% 33% 33%
SoMe-plan with examples 70% 15% 15%
Invitation, video and press release 15% 15% 70%
Wrapping and T-shirts design 15% 70% 15%
Evaluation 25% 50% 25%
Summaries 20% 20% 60%
Conclusion 20% 20% 60%
Editing of the final draft 33% 33% 33%

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Introduction
Founded in 2007, Lakrids by Johan Bülow (from here onwards, Lakrids for short) produce
and sell quality liquorice. The company has grown from a small shop in Svaneke on
Bornholm to having an international presence with across Denmark, Sweden, Norway,
Iceland, Finland, Germany, Italy, Spain and Dubai (Liquorice.nu, 2016). Lakrids have
grown financially and are looking to expand again (Simonsen, 2015). Before the
beginning of 2016, the company’s founder Johan Bülow outlined his ambition to open
new stores, one of them is due to open June 1. in Amsterdam.
This paper is our take on how Lakrids should communicate for the shop opening and to
the company’s. We will begin with analyzing the challenges that Lakrids face entering a
new market. Move on to core story and the brand identity. After that we map out how
Lakrids communicate, advertise and how they have done previous shop openings. The
analysis will end by describing target groups.
The second part of the paper turns to developing a communication strategy and plan for
the shop opening. In the strategy part we will state communication goals and key themes
as well as describing channels we should use for communication. In the third part of the
paper we will show our plan for the communication and move on to explain the
communication initiatives and presenting select ones as they should be done. Finally, we
explain how we intend to evaluate our communication.

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PART I. ANALYSIS
Lakrids by Johan Bülow in Amsterdam: Situation analysis
Opening up a shop in a new market can be a challenge as there will be differences. To
get an idea of what Lakrids should be consider when entering the Netherlands market,
we have made a SWOT-analysis.
SWOT
Strengths. Since its beginning, Lakrids has been at the avantgarde of liquorice
exploration. In fact, Johan Bülow’s made liquorice trendy. The founder’s vision and strong
personal brand contributes to Lakrids financial success with a near 30% ROI. The brand
prides itself in using quality ingredients and offering a wide range of liquorice-based
candy. The location for Amsterdam gives tourists and Dutch visitors daily. Lakrids’ pop-
up store at Hazenstraat 23 will be just outside of De Negen Straatjes (‘The 9 Streets’ in
Dutch), a shopping area of luxury shops and fashion stores. This lacation support the VIP
status of the brand.
Weaknesses. Liquorice being their only area of expertise, Lakrids might loose
costumers. Lakrids uses the Danish word for liquorice, while the Dutch words for it
(zoethout or drop) are not close. Finally, despite being a good entrepreneur back home,
Johan is not known in the Netherlands. All these aspects present difficulties in promoting
Lakrids in the Netherlands.
Opportunities. Dutch food expert Karin Engelbrecht states, more than 20% of all candy
sold in the Netherlands is liquorice. It is estimated that an average Dutch person

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consumes 2 kg of liquorice a year (Holland At Home, 2016). Stine Daugaard of
Søndagsavisen says that liquorice has become a part of a trend in Danish cuisine.
Scandinavian influences is strong in Northern Europe, and this presents an opportunity
for Lakrids to explore.
Threats. An already formed liquorice candy market in the Netherlands makes the
competition strong. For a brand that relies on word-of-mouth recognition, this advertising
technique holds a risk of backfire (Thring, 2010; Holohan, 2012; Al-Qasimi, 2012). Finally,
the future of the liquorice trend is hard to predict.
Core story
Having a strong core story in a company can be a motivation for employees as well as
ensuring a consistent “company voice” externally, as long as it is always in the back of
the employees minds (Fog, K. et al., 2005). Lakrids, company’s core story is very visible.
The story of Lakrids is on their website, and displayed in the shops. This shows how much
efford the company puts on communicating its core story.
Short version of Lakrids’s story, it started in 2007 when Johan Bülow sold liquorice in
Svaneke on Bornholm (Lakrids.nu, 2016). The company had success, and Johan Bülow
decided to expand. Lakrids have since grown into an international company and is well
known in Denmark. What is important about the core story are the values that go along
with it.
In interviews with founder Johan Bülow, he is always talking about how he wants the
company’s products to be the very best. In a 2016 documentary on DR2 he said:
“The idea about creating liquorice that is so much better than everyone else’s, that will
always be the goal.”
– Johan Bülow (DR2, 2016)
This goal of achieving the highest possible quality was visible from the start of the
company. Johan Bülow had trouble with making the liquorice the way he wanted it, but
they kept trying to make it better even after the company had success. This value of
always striving for the best might seem a bit of a cliché, but it genuinely seems like Lakrids
is living the value. The feeling of quality and luxury extends beyond the actual product, it
is in the packaging and the decoration of the shops.Lakrids has a strong core story, and
we believe the communication should align with it.

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Brand identity
In this section, we elaborate different aspects of the company brand using the model
above (inspired by Peters, 2013). The company is proud of their heritage and the core
story is very visible. The founder Johan Bülow is a huge part of the brand identity.Johan
Bülow’s vision for the company is to spread love for liquorice in the world, the mission is
to create a product of the highest possible quality. The products are made with passion
and from quality ingredients. Together with the actual product, they are selling an
experience of luxury and passion. The following quote from the company’s founder
proves that Lakrids are not ready to compromise their long-term goal for short-term gains:
“The shine will go off as soon as we start selling [our product] in a big supermarket
chain in Sweden or Germany. We could have been very rich in revenue by selling this
to large chains, who wanted six-figure amounts of units, but we ended up saying no.”
– Johan Bülow (Ledelses TV, 2013)
The brand identity is confident and passionate, selling an experience while being aware
of their vision.
The company’s current advertising and communication
In this section, we analyse the company’s communication and advertising to see how
Lakrids has communicated. This will give us an insight to the brand, and give an indication
of the possibilities– in relation to the pop-up shop in Amsterdam. When Johan Bülow

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opened his very first shop in Svaneke on Bornholm, he did not make any effort to
advertise for the opening. In an interview, he told they handed out samples and thought
the smell of liquorice would get people to the shop (DR2, 2016). In 2013, Johan Bülow
stated that he values recommendations highly (Ledelses TV, 2013), which gives an
indication of why the company uses few resources on marketing.
Lakrids has done little traditional advertising of their products on television, outdoor
posters, etc. Lakrids success seems to come from costumers hearing about the products
rather than the company reaching out to customers and investors (DR2, 2016). The belief
is that quality of the products speaks for itself, and the word spreads through people
recommending Lakrids to others.
Having a product that stands out because of its quality is important to Lakrids (DR2,
2013). The company try to surround the experience of shopping for the products with a
feeling of luxury this is a commonly used way of trying to differentiating yourself as a
company (Pine & Gilmore, 1999). The customer not only purchases the product, but also
the feeling or experience that the product brings with it. The Lakrids shops are decorated
in dark colours and the products are presented neatly. This style is also goes for
packaging. Overall, it gives a feeling of luxury to the shopping experience, which gives
the product its exclusive feeling.
Like the vast majority of Danish companies, Lakrids is present on social media (Lilmoes,
S. P. 2014). The company has almost 57K fans on Facebook and posts 2-3 times a week.
The posts are about the products with links to the online shop or competitions, where one
can win the products. They have done short stories about how their products are made,
and they post when they open new shops. Using Gary Vaynerchuk’s theory on social
media, we can say that Lakrids are doing a lot of right hooks, but few jabs (Vaynerchuk,
2013). Vaynerchuk’s idea is that a company should spend time to build the company’s
story and engage customers before attempting to sell products. For that reason, Lakrids’
activity on Facebook has room for improvement. The same goes for the company’s
Twitter profile (@LakridsbyBulow). The company are posting similar content to what they
have on Facebook, which does not make sense. Twitter is mainly used for following the
news and discussing it (Rosenstiel, T. et al, 2015), and one could question whether it
even makes sense for the Lakrids to be on Twitter. On Instagram, things are a better. The
company’s presence on Instagram (@lakridskongen) is not a company profile, but Johan
Bülow’s personal profile, with almost 33K fans. Lakrids founder posts products, but he
also shares images from the production and from his visits to Lakrids shops. He has
posted several photos of foods with liquorice in them, which in total makes for a strong
story about the whole of the company. The company also has a webpage, which is a web
shop, but also contains the company story as well as recipes with liquorice (Lakrids.nu,
2016).
The information about how they communicate and advertise new shop openings is
limited. On Instagram, Johan Bülow has posted about new shop openings, but not in a

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way that is inviting new customers to the shop. Potential customers in new countries will
most likely miss these posts. On Facebook, Lakrids have a separate page for each
country they are present in. They have used these pages for attention to shop openings
in new markets. People are invited to share the announcing posts to participate in
competitions and win prizes, Facebook is used to tell about shop openings where
customers can taste the product. The core marketing strategy has not changed since the
very first shop opening in 2007: when people try Lakrids, they come back for more.
Culture communication: Market research
Before expanding to a new market, Larkids should perform an analysis of the local culture
first. Geert Hofstede’s model measures national culture in six dimensions: Power
Distance Index (PDI), Individualism vs. Collectivism (IDV), Masculinity vs. Femininity
(MAS), Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI), Long Term Orientation vs. Short Term
Normative Orientation (LTO) and Indulgence vs. Restraint (IND) (Hofstede, G., 2016).
Given the relative nature of these parameters, country scores only prove valuable in
comparison with another culture.
Netherlands scores low in
masculinity and high in individualism
and indulgence which puts the
country close to Denmark. This
allows us to use domestic
communication methods in the new
market. However, increased PDI,
UAI and LTO should be considered
when bringing Dutch employees
onboard. High LTO score suggests
the Dutch people share an emotional
need for rules while higher PDI hints
that working relationships should be
more formalized than in Denmark.
Target groups
Announcing the opening of the pop-up shop in Amsterdam, Lakrids want to reach out to
different target groups: local consumers and companies, as well as tourists. The company
are hiring three employees for the shop who will be introduced to the Lakrids story and
values. In this section, we analyse the four target groups to understand communicating
to them.
– Local consumers
Unlike in Denmark, Lakrids are not very well-known in the Netherlands. People in
Amsterdam have had the opportunity of buying it from the chocolate boutique next to the

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new shop on Hazenstraat (Chocolátl NL Amsterdam, 2016), and the Conservatorium
Hotel have had Lakrids products in the minibar (@LakridsByBulow, 2014). On the
chocolate boutique’s Facebook there is a post about a new Lakrids product. In the
comments section, a customer ask about a different Lakrids product, proving some
degree of recognition.
The shop will be near the Nine Streets of Amsterdam (De Negen Straatjes). This is an
area of special shops (Negen Straatjes – Lonely Planet, 2016; De 9 Straatjes, 2016).
Lakrids is a niche product it will fit in, as the locals shopping in this area will be looking
for specialized goods.
In Denmark, Lakrids’ products are primarily sold to consumers who are willing to spend
more to get a quality product. Products are not cheap, which means that the potential
customers will likely not be students, but rather people with full-time jobs or high enough
income to prioritize luxury sweets. This type of consumer is likely to shop in the Nine
Streets area. Finally, the culture comparison suggests that the product can be marketed
in a similar way to how it is done in Denmark.
– Tourists
Tourism in the Netherlands is experiencing a rise. In 2014, nearly 14M tourists visited the
country – up 1.2M from the previous year. 80% come from Europe, mainly Germany, the
UK and Belgium. According to NBTC Holland Marketing, total money spent by tourists in
the Netherlands amounts to €10.2 billion a year, averaging €214 per person per day
(Expatica Communications, 2016).
While on their trip, tourists are already looking for new experiences. More often than not,
travellers also have money with them eager to shop. The Negen Straatjes area has had
media coverage, and tourist guides as Lonely Planet recommend a trip there, highlighting
small dedicated shops. The New York Times says, “Easily Amsterdam’s best shopping
hub; a charming mixture of designer boutiques, art galleries, vintage clothing stores, gift
shops and places to eat and drink.” (De 9 Straatjes, Amsterdam web)
– Companies
For companies as customers Lakrids want to sell sample solutions for the companies to
give to their clients and customers, and also gift options for employees. As the price for
the product is high, the companies buying the products need to be financially strong.
We expect potential clients to include large hotel chains (such as Hyatt, Hilton and
Radisson) and high-end cafes. Branded samples in custom wrapping can be offered.
Additionally, the local culture of ‘brown cafés' (bruin cafés, traditional Dutch pubs) allows
salty Lakrids samples with beer.
Cooperation with luxury fashion boutiques in the neighborhood is another possible area
of expansion. While visiting a Louis Vuitton or Hermès store, for example, a valued

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customer may be offered a complimentary cup of coffee. A sample Lakrids could be an
addition to that.
– Employees
As well as informing potential customers of their existence, Lakrids are looking to do
onboarding activities for the new employees in. The new employees will be living in
Amsterdam, which means that we need to be aware of the cultural differences that imply.
There are many similarities between the Danish and the Dutch culture; however, it should
be noted that the work relationships are generally more formal than in Denmark.
Since many tourists are expected to visit the shop, it should be prioritized that the
employees are fluent in English. Fluency in German should be considered a plus since
the largest share of tourists come from there.
Summary of the analysis
• There are several challenges related to opening the pop-up store (e.g. the brand
is not well-known in the Netherlands).
• The core story with Johan Bülow and the brand identity are some of the company's
biggest strengths. They should be used as a foundation for the company's
communication.
• Marketing-wise, Lakrids believe that their product is so good the potential
customers will be hooked as soon as they try it.
• Culturally, there are many similarities between the Danish people and the Dutch
with exceptions in power distance and uncertainty avoidance.
• The communication strategy will include four target groups: the local consumers,
tourists, local companies, and the three new store employees.

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PART II. COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
After analysing different elements of Lakrids, we turn to the opening of the pop-up shop
in Amsterdam and how to communicate it. We describe the goals in relation to each target
group. Then, we describe which key themes is relevant in our communication activities.
Then we will discuss – and conclude – which channels should be used to reach the target
groups. Before summing up the main parts of the strategy, we will discuss if influencers
could serve to reach our communication goals.These elements make up the strategy- the
foundation for the communication activities.
Communication goals
To create guidelines for our communication initiatives, we have outlined goals for each
target group deriving from the organizational goal, the same as the vision: Lakrids want
to teach everyone to love for liquorice around the world (The story of Lakrids by Johan
Bülow, 2016). This agrees with the task of opening a pop-up shop in Amsterdam and
getting the Dutch people to love liquorice. When opening the store, Lakrids should inform
four target groups: local consumers, tourists in Amsterdam, local companies and
employees.
For local consumers, Lakrids need to inform about the store opening, and make sure
the local consumers know about the core story, quality and taste to create a loyal
customer base.
As for the tourists, Lakrids’ communication goal is to attract tourists who are planning to
visit Amsterdam or are already there, shopping near De 9 Straatjes.
To engage local companies, the brand should establish relations with fellow companies

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operating in the luxury or premium segment: designer fashion boutiques, expensive
beauty salons and luxury hotels and restaurants. Additionally, the products could be
bought by companies as gifts for their employees.
Lakrids is looking for three new employees, the goal is to educate them, teaching them
the values of the company, and to inspire them to act as ambassadors of Lakrids.
Ideally, communication goals are established to evaluate on the communication
afterwards. The goals above are hard to measure; we will outline specific success criteria
when we list communication initiatives.
Key themes
In our analysis of Lakrids’, we found that the company story should be central to its
communication. In this paragraph, we list the key themes for our communication activities.
We have selected the following themes from the brand’s core story for our communication
strategy:
• Quality. The quality and taste of the products is crucial.
• Luxury. The luxury-feel from shops and the packaging.
• Passion. Being passionate about what you do and eager to tell others about it.
• Danish heritage. The company’s roots in Denmark (and specifically Bornholm) is
central to the company’s story.
These themes should give the company’s communication a strategic direction, but they
still leave freedom to choose which
themes are relevant to situations and
target groups. The following model
shows which themes should be
emphasized when communicating to
the four target.
Please note that these
recommendations do not exclude
certain themes in relation to
particular target groups. For
example, ‘Passion’ could be
communicated to local companies,
but we would primarily emphasize
‘quality’ and ‘luxury’.
The reasoning behind our choices is linked to our goals for each target group. With local
consumers we consider quality, luxury, and Danish heritage as the right tools to convince
them to buy into the company product and story. For tourists there are similarities to the

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locals, but since the emphasis is on a one-time sale, the focus should be on the quality
of the product as well as the luxury. For local companies we focus on quality and luxury,
because they are the values that the companies would want to be associated with. For
employees we want to educate them in company’s heritage and passion about liquorice
to motivate the employees.
Channels
The following channels will be used to communicate our key themes to reach the
communication goal:
In our analysis, we found Johan
Bülow works as a front figure and
is a part of the brand identity. We
recommend that Lakrids use
Johan Bülow for communication
activities for all target groups.
Lakrids already use sampling, as
they learnt that people come back
for more. Lakrids should hand
samples out in Amsterdam, both
in stores, hotels and in the streets
using promotion girls. The
wrappings should state the store
address.
Some tourists and locals will walk
through the street without
knowing the brand. In this
situation, the shop facade will be
a channel to draw attention to the
shop. The opening shop event
and the other events can also attract bypassers to the shop.
Our target groups will in some cases serve as channels for other target groups. For
example, the employees will be channels for consumers and tourists. What they wear,
what they say and how they act is a way of communicating to Lakrids’.
We expect social media to engage consumers. Sampling can attract locals, tourists and
companies. Additionally, influencers, such as bloggers and chefs are well-known and
reach throughout the Dutch society and beyond. For that reason, influencers is a channel
for communicating to local consumers, companies and employees.

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We plan to reach tourists through tourist guides, websites and apps such as Tripadvisor.
There are some specific channels for new employees as well. Lakrids will use workshops
and fieldtrips to educate the employees, but Lakrids could also use the public channels
like social media and public sampling, creating auto communication: getting the new
employees to feel proud about working for the Lakrids.
Influencers
To help reach the local audience, we
plan to use influencers (VIPs) from
five key industries: lifestyle, TV,
music, sport (football) and food. Their
goodwill and media impact will help
raise awareness and establish
Lakrids’ place in the world of luxury.
Upon choosing the influencers, we
relied on them being recognized by
our target group as well as their
passionate performance in areas of expertise.
Please refer to Lakrids_Influencers.pdf in the appendix section to view the list of
influencers.
The influencers share the passion about what they do. This align the values of Lakrids
and helps send the messages of quality and passion to our target groups. The use of
influencers will be further explained in the communication plan below, but what is
important to understand is that each category connects with the Lakrids brand in a
different way. We expect lifestyle bloggers to highlight the luxury aspect, while footballers
and chefs will reflect our passion and relentless pursuit of high quality. While local
consumers are the primary focus of influencer involvement, we expect VIPs to motivate
Lakrids employees and attract attention of companies.

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Strategy summary
For an overview, we have summarized the key elements below.
We will be using this as a foundation for the communication plan.

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PART III. COMMUNICATION PLAN
With the strategy is in place, we use it as foundation for the communication plan in relation
to Lakrids new pop-up shop in Amsterdam. We split the period into three phases:
We first show the overall communication plan, with the timing of the communication
initiatives. Secondly, we describe the different communication initiatives, while stating
success criteria for them. For selected initiatives, we share our vision for their
implementation. Finally, we present a plan for how to evaluate if the communication has
succeeded
Timeplan
Please refer to the Lakrids_Timeplan.pdf in the appendix for the complete
schedule.
Communication initiatives
Social media plan
A plan designed by a social media manager including the four key themes and themes of
family and creativity, plus coverage of special in-store events. These themes can be
combined in different ways highlighting the month’s events and new product
launches.The language on the Lakrids Netherlands page on Facebook shall be Dutch.
The style of social media plan revolves around small
everyday luxuries, such as meeting up with friends,
travelling or trying something new. The Danish
concept of hygge implies that by sharing a special
moment with our loved ones we make it more
significant. This ‘sharing is caring’ philosophy relates
well to a product such as Lakrids.
Please refer to Lakrids_SMM.pptx in the appendix section for weekly themes and
content examples.

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Trip to Copenhagen
To fully experience the world of Lakrids, a field trip will
be held for the three new employees.They will visit the
factory, where the employees will be greeted by the
head of production Tage Kusk and shown around by a
factory worker. The second day is for the training
program and will be classroom orientation. On the third
day, there will be guide to show them around in
Copenhagen, and in the evening, it would be a great if Johan Bülow had them over for
dinner at his home. The last day is for exploring and flying home.
Sampling by the employees
As a part of the employees training, getting them onboard
to act as ambassadors, one week before the store
opening the employees will hand out samples with
invitation printed on the wrapping. The employees wear
store uniform. The employees will answer questions and
invite people to the official store opening.
Sampling by promotion girls
When the shop opens, Lakrids will have promotion girls
handing out samples, described below. The girls walk in
a loop that begins and ends at the store. Their T-shirts
will say, ‘Want more?’ on the front and ‘Follow me to the
store’ on the back. Tourists can follow the promo girl
back to the store.

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Wrapping
For the sampling, before shop opening by the
employees and also after the shop opening by
promotion girls, Lakrids will have wrapping that
states the adress. For the ones handed out before
the shop opening, it will be an invitation and an
address. For the samples handed out after the
shop opening it will be a wrapping with the text:
‘Want more? And
then the address.
Email for welcoming employees
The newly hired employees should receive a personal email
from Johan Bülow. The email is a short welcome from Johan
Bülow, he explains the story and values of the company. The
mail includes the plan for the onboarding-process detailing
their trip to Denmark in week 2 and training in Amsterdam.
Invitation for influencers
To invite the influencers, in week 1 we will call agents to find
out if the person is available. If interested in attending, we
will send an invite via email. In week 3, we will send a printed
invitation by mail with a personal letter from Johan Bülow
and a gift basket.
Please refer to Lakrids_Invite.pdf in the appendix section to read the personal letter
from Johan Bülow.

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Gift basket with invitation
To those influencers showed interest, we suggest shipping
gift baskets with a printed version of the invite. We want
our influencers to discover what of Lakrids offers, we
suggest sending them:
4 Jars of Liquorice + Gift box – LOVE Edition.
VIP Event
To establish Lakrids’ place in the world of luxury (and because the space in pop-up shop
is limited), we split the opening event in two -a private launch for the VIPs in the evening
before the general opening. Johan Bülow will welcome the influencers to the event. Apart
from the influencers, we invite recognized local media.
The guests will gather in the area in front of the store decorated with black and white
balloons. There will be a liquorice fountain with
marshmallows, strawberries and other things to
dip.Champagne with liquorice macaroons will be offered.
There will be backgrounds for Instagram for bloggers to use.
To show different flavors of Lakrids, we will place individual
cans in glass boxes as museum exhibits with descriptions.
Speech by Johan Bülow
As CEO as well as a good speaker, Johan Bülow will give a
short speech at the VIP-event. Since local consumers is the
target group – indirectly through the influencers at the VIP-
event –the themes: quality, luxury and Danish
heritage.Johan Bülow should encourage everyone to share
their experience with friends and relatives.
Shop opening
The shop opening will start with giving free liquorice to the
first 50 people, to ensure a line for the opening, which will
provide good pictures. Johan Bülow will be there the whole
day, to help employees on their first day. Promotion girls
will attract people to the shop.

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Façade of pop-up store
The facade should represent the Lakrids and attract people
to the shop and serve as a channel. A flat screen in the
window will show a looped video with shots from Bornholm
and the factory. There will be a text describing the products
and the story of Lakrids, the window exhibition contains of
products as well.
Please refer to https://youtu.be/_FREtgZNsQs to watch the looped video.
Tourist guides, websites and apps
To attract tourists to the shop, we want the shop to be in
tourist guides suchas Lonely Planet (Lonely Planet, 2016),
tourist apps such as Tripadvisor (TripAdvisor, 2016) and
tourist websites such as IAmsterdam.com (I Amsterdam,
2016). It is unlikely that they will include Lakrids before it is
known, it might take time before these communication
initiatives are in place. For Tripadvisor, Lakrids should create
their own profile.
Press release
To create media coverage of Lakrids’ in Amsterdam, certain
local media is invited to the shop for the VIP-opening and for
select events, we also intend to reach media with press
releases1
.
Please refer to Lakrids_pressrelease.pdf in the appendix
section to read the press release for store opening.
1
As a sidenote, the shop opening is also an opportunity to reach the Danish media. Newspapers that
focus on business will be interested in a Danish company expanding.

22
Photos and videos from events
We will use visuals from store events on social media for
extra coverage.
B2B partnerships (e.g. hotels, restaurants, fashion
boutiques)
Johan Bülow and Lakrids will hold meeting with relevant
partners, once the store is
properly established.
Lakrids will give flowpacks,
consisting of 160 samples,
for the partners to taste and distribute to employees and
consumers. We will leave the detailed agenda for the
sales department2
.
Events calendar
Johan Bülow’s vision is to teach everyone about liquorice. Reinventing the store’s role as
not only the point of sale, but also as hip and trendy, may help bring Lakrids vision to life.
We propose social events in and around the store every two weeks.
Schedule of events for the season:
2
However, we recommend Lakrids to consider the possibilities of using hotels as a way of reaching
tourists. Having samples with the pop-up shop’s address on them, on the counters in certain hotels will
help bring new customers to the store.

23
Michelin chef events in June and August
To promote liquorice as a spice, we suggest hosting
special culinary events. The first event is a week after
the store opening involves the Dutch chef Henk
Savelberg. He hosts a live cooking session, from the
store, he makes a dish that involves liquorice. Lakrids
products are at his disposal. At the end of the
session, guests will be offered a taste of Savelberg’s
cooking. The second event feature Michelin chef Ron
Blaauw or a food expert and follow a similar setting.
Consumers are invited through Facebook and in store.
Make your own chocolate covered liquorice event + Autograph signing
For local consumers with kids, at the first event attenders can make chocolate covered
liquorice, with toppings. The event could be a collaboration with the chocolate shop next
door.
For the other evenst we invite Danish footballers who
plays for Ajax Amsterdam (Viktor Fischer and Lasse
Schöne) to attract kids and their families, and
communicate passion and Danish heritage. The football
players sign autographs.
Friday night bar parties
We plan to have a Friday night bar three times during
the summer. The idea is to invite the locals for
liquorice drinks outside the after the shop has closed.
Ideally, there should be a DJ, and we would also
suggest using the beer that Lakrids has made in
collaboration with Svaneke Bryghus (Salling, 2016).
The bars have different themes the first one
exploiting the theme of Midsummer Night’s Dream
(BG Events and catering, 2013). The second one a
casual friday bar, the third one for 31st August could be a celebration of the last day of
summer. If the contract is not extended, it also marks the last day of the shop on
Hazenstraat, and it would be a farewell-party.

24
Evaluation
To evaluate Lakrids’ communication in Amsterdam, we will use the success criteria to
measure if the individual communication initiatives have succeeded. This gives an
indication to having reached the communication goal of “Informing and educating relevant
target groups about Lakrids’ presence in Amsterdam”.
In addition, we recommend a recognition survey for local customers in September to get
an idea of how well-known Lakrids have become in Amsterdam. The survey should
include questions about values connected to Lakrids, the taste, location and general
knowledge of the brand. As we know, being well-known is not a success in itself especially
if the wrong values are connected to the brand. Monthly measurements across social
media should be carried out with a focus on Netherlands-based consumers to evaluate
how well-received Lakrids are online.

25
Conclusion
This paper focused on creating a communication strategy and plan for Lakrids by Johan
Bülow, when the company opens it pop-up shop in Amsterdam. In our analysis, we
discovered several challenges in relation the expanding to the Netherlands with one of
the main ones being that company is relatively unknown in the country. Further on, we
discovered that company has a strong and visible core story which contributed to its
strong brand identity. The essence of the company’s marketing has so far been – and
should continue to be – that the liquorice tastes so good, that the customers will come
back for more. We also discovered many similarities between the Danish and the Dutch
culture, which suggests that many of the successful communication initiatives in Denmark
can be transferred to the Netherlands. We concluded the analysis by describing the four
target groups: local consumer, tourists, local companies and employees.
In the second part of the paper, we described our strategy. Our overall communication
goal was to inform and educate the relevant target groups about the company's presence
in Amsterdam. To achieve our goal we would focus on communicating four overall
themes, quality, luxury, passion and Danish heritage. In the third part of the paper, we
presented our communication plan with an overview of when the different channels and
activities come into play. In the next part, we described our communication initiatives with
certain ones being shown in their finalized form. After the communication initiatives, we
described how to evaluate the communication.
(34 711 characters)

26
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