The ice cream industry in the United States is an $8 billion dollar market, with the average American consuming over 45 pints of ice cream per year. Popular flavors include cookies and cream, peanut butter, and fruity or indulgent flavors that combine fruit with chocolate or cream. When purchasing ice cream, consumers are loyal to certain brands and consider factors like flavor, packaging for portion control or on-the-go eating, and occasions that influence their choice of pints versus single-serve formats. Effective marketing communicates the taste and quality of ingredients to emotionally connect with customers' enjoyment of ice cream.

1. … and sprinkles on top
• July is National Ice cream Month
• Trend Alert: Healthy innovative
substitutes will spur industry growth
(IBISWorld Report, 2014)
• US ice cream market is an 8 billion dollar industry
(IBISWorld Report, 2014)
• The US is the #1 consumer of ice cream with the
average American consuming of 45.8 pints per year
(Datamonitor, 2014)
WHAT ARE CONSUMERS LOOKING FOR?
HOW DO WE COMMUNICATE WITH CONSUMERS?
HOW DO CONSUMERS SHOP FOR ICE CREAM?
VARIETY
OF FLAVORS
EMOTIONAL
CONNECTION
TO THE BRAND
1
INDULGENT
CHOCOLATEY FLAVORS
FRUIT-BASED
ALTERNATIVES
STAPLE:
COOKIES & CREAM
PEANUT BUTTER AND FRUITY INDULGENT
[think: fruit + chocolate or fruit + cream]
2
TREND
ALERT
TREND
ALERT
ICE CREAM PURCHASES AND CONSUMPTION
HAVE A STRONG EMOTIONAL DRIVER BEHIND THEM
[think of eating that satisfying pint of ice cream
when you were upset]
A DIRECT CORRELATION EXISTS BETWEEN
EMOTIONAL BRAND PERCEPTIONS AND
BRAND PREFERENCE
MUST HAVE
PROMISE OF TASTE
COMPELLING TASTE DESCRIPTORS
+ REAL INGREDIENTS BRINGS THE
QUALITY OF THE INGREDIENTS AND
THE TASTE TO LIFE
PROMISE OF TASTE
COMPELLING TASTE DESCRIPTORS + REAL
INGREDIENTS BRINGS THE QUALITY OF THE
INGREDIENTS AND THE TASTE TO LIFE
TEXTURE: PARTICULARLY IF
MILK-BASED, DESCRIBING THE
TEXTURE CAN BE TIED BACK TO
THE QUALITY AND TASTE
HERITAGE: INFORMATION ABOUT
THE BRAND’S EXPERTISE REASSURES
WHEN COMBINED WITH A BENEFIT
NICE-TO-HAVE
AVOID STATING THE OBVIOUS:
ATTRIBUTES, SHAPES, GLUTEN-FREE, SQUARE
COMPARATIVE CLAIMS: MAKING
THE BASE OF COMPARISON
RELEVANT TO CONSUMERS CAN
MAKE COMPARATIVE CLAIMS
MORE APPEALING
ORIGIN OF INGREDIENTS
AVOID CLAIMING PERCENTAGES
OF MAJOR INGREDIENT INCLUSIONS
UNLESS IT IS 100%: IT RAISES
CONSUMERS’ SUSPICION ABOUT
THE REST OF THE PRODUCT
EG.AMOUNTOFNATURALINGREDIENTS,REALFRUIT
HEALTH COMPONENT
(CALORIES, VITAMINS, ETC. )
THIS IS AN INDULGENT ACTION
AFTER-ALL
ASSESS BASED ON SITUATION
Brand
Loyal Form Flavor
CONSUMERS SHOP FIRST BY
BRAND (TYPICALLY EXCLUSIVE
TO A CERTAIN ICE CREAM FORM)
FOLLOWED BY FLAVOR
IT IS IMPORTANT TO PROMOTE
(AND ADVERTISE) YOUR BRAND IN
A WAY THAT IS IN LINE WITH YOUR
SOUGHT BRAND PERCEPTION
STICKS TO BARS TO CONES TO
SANDWICHES-PORTION CONTROLLED
AND EASY “ON THE GO” DEMANDS
ARE POPULAR
OCCASION BASED PURCHASES,
WHICH DICTATE THE DESIRE FOR
PINTS VS. STICKS
CHOCOLATELY TO FRUITY, OR
SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN,
THE LAST FACTOR CONSUMERS
CONSIDER IS THE SPECIFIC
FLAVOR OF THEIR PURCHASE
+ +
since
1912
LUSCIOUS
natural
RICH
FRESH
deliciousness
creamy
REAL
RICH
FRESHCHOCOLATELY
FRESH
fresh
NATURALfresh
LUSCIOUS
rich
rich
DELICOUS
LUSCIOUS
creamy
REAL
luscious
real
real
rich
creamy