Crazy For Cookies

Ice cream demand and sales rise as summer approaches and peaks during the Eid season. Given these considerations, Wall’s ice cream released a new flavour – Cookie Craze – at the end of June this year, just before Eid, a new product extension that was accompanied by an extensive advertising campaign to boost sales potential.

According to Wall’s research, the Eid season usually sees a 50% increase in in-home ice cream consumption. According to Shehzar Zaman Khan, Assistant Brand Manager, Unilever Pakistan, “It is a popular choice for post-dinner festive moments, especially when entertaining friends and family. Ice cream is also seen as a delightful gift to share with relatives when visiting their homes.”

Cookie Craze was introduced with a single SKU, which is a normal practice when Wall’s introduces new flavours that cater to the ‘mass premium market’ (LSM 5 to 8+). In this case, the SKU was a one-litre tub, which is convenient in terms of deep freezer storage. The tub is priced at Rs 700, which is 55% higher compared to their other ‘regular’ flavours such as vanilla and chocolate and which are available in brick packs (soft paper ‘bricks’) and are priced at Rs 450.

Wall’s competition comes primarily from Omoré and Hico. Hico’s ‘Cookies and Crème’ is priced at Rs 840 per litre, and Omoré’s Cookie Mania’s 1.4-litre tub is Rs 800. Khan adds that the existing annual market size for ice cream in Pakistan stands at 80,000 tonnes, of which Wall’s enjoys a market share of 80%.

When asked why Wall’s opted to introduce Cookie Craze rather than another flavour that Wall’s had already introduced globally but not in Pakistan, Khan says that “prior to introducing a new flavour, we conducted market research to assess the prevailing trends. We tested a consumer segment aged between 18 and 45 years, and the study revealed that the top choice among consumers was Cookie Craze.”

Ice cream parlours pose another form of competition for ice cream brands, as many people prefer to enjoy their desserts there. However, Khan says Wall’s does not perceive such parlours as direct competition, as they offer “a fun outdoor experience”, while Wall’s primarily focuses on providing ice cream that can be eaten at home in their tubs and brick packs. “These are two different markets that do not correlate with each other.”

At the moment, Wall’s does not have a permanent advertising agency on retainer to handle the creative elements for their brand. Instead, they are hiring agencies on a project basis and for the launch of Cookie Craze, the company collaborated with We Are Transmedia (WRT) who designed a concept that centred on highlighting the product’s appearance and ingredients and also made a conscious decision to exclude any human element from the campaign.

Commenting on this aspect, Umair Anwar, CEO, WRT says that because the campaign was about a new flavour, the goal was to present consumers with a physical feel of what the product looks like and the emphasis in the T/DVC was on a close-up of the pack and depicting the components such as chocolate chips, sauce and cookies that came together to create the flavour. Khan elaborates that the big idea was “to tempt consumers to try the product.”

Cookie Craze is available in both physical stores and e-commerce platforms such as Pandamart and Krave Mart across Pakistan, using Wall’s existing distribution system. Major cities like Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and Multan are the primary markets.

Despite it being early to evaluate the flavour’s success, which typically requires a 100-day period for conclusive results, Khan says that Cookie Craze has performed well and garnered a positive response. He adds that research is an ongoing process at Wall’s to identify flavours that are in demand as this enables them to introduce the right new and appealing flavours.