Dreyer’s, which has not had a brand agency-of-record since its launch, will retain Publicis Beijing to handle local creative. With China’s ice-cream market growing by almost 10 per cent annually, Nestlé is hoping to use Dreyer’s - which it acquired in 2003 - to help it grow its market share in the country.
According to sources, the move is part of Nestlé’s strategy to eschew low-end ice cream, a market segment dominated by Mengniu and Yili, to focus on high-end products. Its key global ice-cream rival - Unilever - is believed to be following the same strategy. “I wouldn’t say they have got out of low-end, but they are concentrating on the middle,” said Y&R China national planning director Stephen Drummond, who previously handled the Wall’s business at Nitro.
“There’s not much point in battling it out at the very low end against the local players.”
Nestlé lags Unilever in China’s ice-cream market, thanks to the success of the latter’s Cornetto. Together with Magnum, the two products lead Nestlé’s Cone. Dreyer’s, meanwhile, will attempt to play in a segment that is dominated by the higher-priced Häagen-Dazs.
“Häagen-Dazs is driven by the brand experience of the store - it seems to be doing quite well,” said Drummond. “All the macro-demographics stack up for young, affluent tier-one consumers.
