The ice cream parlour as a brand - an innovative approach

Every one of us knows Coca Cola, Apple or Porsche. These "brands" are generally regarded as some of the strongest brands in the world , and no one would dispute that a large part of these companies' success is explained by the brand . Perhaps an even better example is Red Bull: It's not the content - there are now more than enough "gummy bear-flavored" energy drinks - but the brand that accounts for its success. It's not for nothing that Red Bull spends many millions on sponsorship, from Formula 1 to parachute jumps from outer space. Despite, or perhaps because of, this spending, the owner is a billionaire.

Does an ice cream parlor actually need a "brand"?

Your ice cream shop doesn't just need a brand, it IS a brand, whether you like it or not. And that impacts your business and your customers - again, whether you want it to or not.

Self-congruence theory

In modern marketing, there is the concept of "self-congruence."

A short and simplified explanation: Every person has different values that define them - and primarily buys products that correspond to their values.

Here are two examples:

Person A makes no compromises, is technology-loving, innovative, quality-conscious and adventurous, but not very cost-sensitive, hardly focused on sustainability and environmental protection. He therefore always has the latest iPhone, his dream car is a Tesla and he wears technically functional clothes.

Person B is more of a purist: he likes his products tried and tested and without technical frills, values sustainability and does not like to spend more money than necessary. He values sustainable products and is committed to environmental protection. He doesn 't need the coolest or the newest product - it has to be simple and work. B would shop at a health food store, drive a used Mercedes and look for the Ökotex seal on clothing.

Sounds logical? Then you have already understood the principle of the self-congruence theory: When given a choice, people buy the brands that convey their values.

What does this beautiful theory have to do with the ice cream parlor now?

It's simple: Which ice cream parlor would A and B each go to - and which of the two do you want as a customer?

The concept of target groups

At first, the answer seems clear to many: A seems to be the more attractive customer - if only because A is willing to spend more money, so yes, you could charge more for a bullet.

But that's not necessarily true - at least not as simple as that. Because there are not only "A's" in a city, but also many "B's" (and also "C's", "D's" and so on). Today, depending on whom you ask, it is assumed that there are between 6 and 9 fundamentally different types of people or customers. Some of them are more similar, others less so.

Even if one or the other type of customer seems more attractive than the other: It makes little sense if all ice cream parlors in a city fight for the same customer, while the other customers are hardly addressed. In other words, let the other ice cream parlors fight over the most attractive customer if all the supposedly "unattractive" customers belong to you.

By the way, a great example and a real success story for this approach is the low-cost car brand Dacia: While almost all passenger car brands are fighting over the supposed premium customer - innovative, quality-conscious, technology-oriented - Dacia, as a simple, solid, low-cost brand, has secured a huge market share among the "unattractive" customers. And earns really good money with it.

The target groups of the ice cream parlors

How can we now transfer the knowledge about target groups to the ice cream parlor?

Yes, of course there is the customer who wants to try innovative flavors every day in the top-stylish e atery and is happy to pay €1.80 for a scoop of "Matcha ice cream with Szechuan pepper."

But there is also the other customer who is also willing to pay € 1.80 - but prefers to pay for a classic but extremely high-quality scoop of Madagascar vanilla.

The next person likes to try out completely crazy flavors (even if they don't taste good in the end), and the next person wants fair-trade, vegan organic ice cream. And there's also the customer who simply wants a cold, sweet and preferably large scoop of ice cream for €1.30 .

What are the consequences for the ice cream parlor operator? First of all, you should simply know your target group - if you decide on vegan organic ice cream, then you have already defined your target group anyway. Then you should analyze whether you already have strong competitors for this target group at your planned location - and if so, either rethink the location or the concept. Or simply create a better, more consistent brand for this target group than the competition.

The components of your ice cream parlor brand

So what contributes to your brand in the ice cream parlor? The simple answer: Everything!

Your name conveys a brand - "Eiscafè Venezia" conveys a very different image than "Vegan Gelato Gang". Your logo conveys a brand - an idyllic Tuscan silhouette or a cartoon polar bear? Your interior conveys values - a stylish, ultra-modern interior has a very different effect than a high-quality, traditional interior with wood and marble or a pared-down bar covered with green coffee sacks and flamed pallets as benches.

And so it goes: your ice cream menu. The lighting and seating. The coffee cups and ice cream sundaes used. Whether there's a homemade cookie next to the espresso, a packaged standard cookie, or just nothing at all. The work clothes of your employees - a uniform work outfit alone conveys a different image than "everyone comes as they like" (of course, both can be intentional). And also the employees themselves - seasonal staff without knowledge of German conveys a completely different (not worse, but different) image than young students who always have a snappy saying on their lips.

We could go on forever, but I think the message is getting through: EVERYTHING you do has an impact on your brand.

Consistent and consistent

This makes it all the more important to be both consistent and consistent.

The strongest brands in the world are consistent and polarizing - and that's a good thing.

Another example from the passenger car market: Porsche, demonstrably one of the strongest brands in the world polarizes. For some it is THE dream car, others would never get into a Porsche in their life ("if only because of the guys who drive Porsches...").

Opel, on the other hand? It has hardly any real fans and hardly any real opponents. Most people will say "Well, nothing special...".

By the way, not only "premium brands" have strong brands, as the example of Dacia again shows, because Dacia also polarizes: For some the most boring, stuffy car brand in the world, for others the only sensible choice and "proof that you don't need a brand".

The important thing is that a strong brand dares to have fans and opponents! And a strong ice cream parlor brand also has fans ("I only get my ice cream there!") and opponents ("I would never go there").

And also, it's important to be consistent - not to confuse the customer. Everything you do should convey the same message to the customer.

If everything - from the logo to the furnishings to the pricing - conveys the same message , e.g. "we are high-quality, expensive and exclusive", then one customer may think that's good, the other bad - but everyone gets the message.

So it would be consistent if the "Monkey Gelato" sold 24 varieties of banana ice cream in biodegradable boabab cups, while the walls were painted with a jungle look and a real parrot sat in a cage above the counter. Some think it's brilliant, others awful - but everyone talks about it.

But when Asian employees at "Eiscafè L'Italiano Vero" sell hip organic-vegan ice cream in cheap, industrial-looking platisk cups, while pictures from New York hang on the wall, it's completely inconsistent and the customer ends up doing only one thing: completely confused.

Your ice cream parlor as a brand

So what should you take away from this extensive and complex blog article?

Become aware that your ice cream shop is a brand. That really all details influence this brand. That your brand appeals to a certain target group - and scares off another.

If you plan to open a new ice cream parlor: Be aware of what brand you want to be beforehand. Think about how much competition there is for your target group in this place.

And above all: Go your way consistently to the end - and dare to polarize!

Because a very important lesson from the self-congruence theory is: You can never please everyone - but anything is better than being boring!

Your Alois Krä GmbH