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1 - Product Design and Branding and Promotion Case Study

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141 views

1 - Product Design and Branding and Promotion Case Study

Business

Uploaded by

Urvi Bhudia
Copyright
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Magnum Pink and Black (Product design; Branding and Promotion)

Specification topic: Product design; Branding and Promotion


Case Study: Magnum Pink and Black
Ice cream’s 10 biggest advertisers more than doubled their spend on traditional ad space in 2014,
forking out £14.7m, a rise of 147.6% (Ebiquity 52 w/e 31 January 2015).

The overall rise was driven by the industry’s biggest advertiser, Unilever’s Magnum, also the UK’s
biggest brand with sales just under £150 million, which upped spend on space alone by 35.1% to £5.2m.
“Magnum’s phenomenal performance has been driven by a £13m integrated marketing campaign,”
says Noel Clarke, brand building director for Ice Cream at Unilever. “The campaign aimed to get more
Magnums into consumers’ hands and drive penetration while remaining true to Magnum’s heartland;
chocolate and ice cream.”

The table here, published in The


Grocer magazine in April 2015, has
data for the spend on advertising
in 2014 for the UK’s top ice cream
brands

In early 2015 Unilever launched two new Magnum flavours, Pink and Black, with an emotional branding
message designed to appeal to consumers different moods. Pink, featuring raspberry ice cream with
pearlescent chocolate covering, is for ‘fun and exuberant’ moments, while Black, with espresso ice
cream and very dark chocolate, is for more ‘sophisticated’ moods. As well as TV ads, the campaign
included significant digital and social media activity, including a joint venture with Time Out magazine
to cover five London buses with pink and black branding, using free on-board Wi-Fi to drive commuters
to branded content and to suggestions from Time Out for their Pink and Black moods. They held a
product launch with Mollie King from girl-band The Saturdays, and a party during the Cannes Film
Festival in France with model Miranda Kerr in a revealing bright pink dress which both earned wide
coverage on social media and on news websites such as The Huffington Post. The brand has made
heavy use of Twitter and Facebook to publicise events such as online Q&A with Mollie King, and closing
London’s Regent Street for a themed Pink and Black Street Party, which trended on Twitter as
consumers queued for free ice creams, fashion shows and street disco. Consumers who tweeted a
picture of their free Magnums received invitations to the ‘VIP Bus’ for more pink and black themed
treats. The ‘Light Up London’ campaign encouraged visitors to Time Out, Twitter, Facebook or Magnum
UK's website to vote whether they wanted to see the London Eye lit up in Pink or Sparkling Black on the
night of May 31st, and the summer opening of a pop-up Magnum store in Covent Garden trended on
Twitter again and had consumers queueing for up to three hours for their ‘personalised’ ice cream.

Exam-style questions

1. Assess the importance of branding for Magnum ice cream’s ability to charge a premium
price for their products (10 marks)

2. Evaluate the likely impact of social media in the success of the Magnum Pink and Black
campaign in summer 2015 (20 marks)

© Tutor2u Limited 2015 www.tutor2u.net


Magnum Pink and Black (Product design; Branding and Promotion)

1. Assess the importance of branding for Magnum ice cream’s ability to charge a premium price
for their products (10 marks)

 There is great competition in this market


 The data for advertising spending shows that Magnum is determined to remain as
market leader by adding value to their product – consumers demand will be specifically
for a Magnum, rather than just for any brand of ice cream
 This reduces the price elasticity of demand for the product so that consumers are less
sensitive to price, and are prepared to pay a premium

Potential counterbalance
• Actions of competitors are crucial as there are many substitutes – if Cadbury’s, Walls
Solero or Mars bar ice creams spend a similar amount on advertising, Magnum may
find that they have to compete more on price than is currently the case.
• Also depends on availability – can the supply chain meet the demand which is being
created?

2. Evaluate the likely impact of social media in the success of the Magnum Pink and Black
campaign in summer 2015 (20 marks)

 The social media campaign targets 18-35 year olds who are interested in fashion and
‘indulgence’ products – this matches the target market for Magnum
 The use of brand ambassadors who appeal to this market also draws in followers of
those celebrities who may be new users of the product.
 Emotional branding – social media is a good match for the ‘fun’ Pink and ‘sophisticated’
Black versions of the product

Potential counterbalance
 The huge advertising budget of £13m and heavy spend of over £5m on ‘above the line’
advertising on TV, press and cinema indicates that Magnum consider this traditional
form of advertising is also essential to meet their sales objectives.
 Use of data to show Magnum’s TV spend at £3,521,608 compared to Ben and Jerry’s at
£3,204,055, Carte d’Or at £1,793,078 and Walls at £156,689

© Tutor2u Limited 2015 www.tutor2u.net

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