Lindy’s had grown nationally but remained a distant second to the category leader. Frozen category managers were unenthused about Italian Ice due to flat sales and questioned the feasibility of stocking two brands. With Concentric’s help, grocers now regard Lindy’s as a growth engine, driving over 90% of the growth in Italian Ice subcategory.
INSIGHTS
Our Insights team discovered that there was a great deal of consumer passion for Italian Ice that hadn’t been captured by any of the current Grocery brands: fond memories connecting Italian Ice to summer vacations, boardwalks and the beach. There was also some confusion between the two leading brands, with had similar names, excessive price promotion and very uninspired packaging. This was a commodity category waiting for a brand with emotional pull.
GROWTH DRIVER
DRIVING VELOCITY
We identified Lindy’s key growth driver as velocity: using a new look to capture attention, drive base volume, diverge from the category leader and gain new or improved shelf placement.
STRATEGY
Our strategy was to “de-commodify” the category by introducing a compelling, story-driven brand. Having Italian Ice takes you back. As children, people loved getting Italian Ice on the boardwalk or on the corner or even at an amusement park. But those weren’t everyday occurrences and since no one lives in an amusement park, we make Lindy’s Homemade Italian Ice. People don’t have to walk the Williamsburg Bridge or even trudge down to South Philly to get some.
CREATIVE
Using the nostalgic icon of the cart as our focus, we created a simple but contemporary feel for the packaging and cup. This improved shelf presence and distanced us from the competition and the whole Frozen Novelties set. Our new box featured two sides, a tall and short front, to allow grocers to optimize space, thereby allowing for 33% more Lindy’s packages to be stocked in the same shelf space as the old design.
