China ice cream fray heats up for summer

The three-pronged Wall's assault includes a TVC for its popular Cornetto brand, a new brand, 'Classic Stick', and a take home range targeting children after school. The Cornetto spot shows the talent wondering why otherwise everyday scenes have been replaced by Cornetto, the 'Classic' spot is built around the strategy that fashions may come and go but people will always come back to their Classic favourites, while 'After school treat' shows the world through the eyes of a boy who is rushing home to his mother, and his treat. "Our aim was to get under the skin of the brand, to generate affection for the product without having to bludgeon the consumer," said Jennifer Tan, Nitro China ECD, Wall's agency. "(We wanted to) charm and seduce the consumer through sheer emotion." Launching in early April, Häagen-Dazs is tapping into consumers' emotional bond with the brand, by capitalising on its 10-year anniversary in China, with 10 new creations. The products will have distinct flavours representing their country of origin, enabling consumers to "enjoy the exotic experiences as if travelling around the world", said David Hunt, managing director, Tequila\China. But Hunt said the campaign was not aimed at competing with Wall's and other major players in China, including Nestlé, because Häagen-Dazs was pitched at high-end consumers. "It's more than just ice cream, it's an experience and a form of indulgence," he said. One of China's top five ice cream brands Nestlé launched close to 20 new products in the lead-up to the crucial summer season, with JWT creating campaigns for a number of the brands, including the key product Drumstick. The campaign centred on the upgraded 'Rose crown' drumstick, targeted at young consumers. Shirley Min, JWT associate account director on Nestlé ice cream, said product innovation, pricing, distribution and advertising firepower are the key weapons in the war. "According to media spend, Wall's leads the biggest share of spending with more than 60 per cent (of total category spend), followed by Mengniu, Nestlé and Yili." But in market share terms, JWT estimated that the top-ranked brands were Yili followed by Mengniu, Wall's and Nestlé.