Cold Stone Aims to be Hip in Japan

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Cold Stone Aims to be Hip in Japan

• Parisa Soltani

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Cold Stone Creamery History

• First shop opened 1988 in Tempe, Arizona by
  Donald and Susan Sutherland
• Over 30 flavors of ice cream
• Over 30 mix ins
• Candy, nuts, fruit, cake, cookies
• Offered chocolate covered crickets in 2001

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Cold Stone Creamery History

• Doug Ducey named CEO in 2000
• First international franchise awarded to open in
  St. Thomas
• Now over 1,400 locations
• 8 locations in Japan
• Cold Stone and Kahala merge and acquire cereality
  cereal bar and café in 2007

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Article Summary

• Marketing product as fashionable
• Opening shops in high end retail areas
• Sponsoring fashion shows
• Photo shoots being staged in shops

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Article Summary

• Influencers make or break new products
• Edgy High school students
• Young, single, female professionals
• Trends popular in Japan spread quickly to Korea,
  China, and other parts of Asia
• Avg. Japanese girl sends 200 text messages/day
• Word of mouth advertising can boost a brand
  overnight

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Article Summary

• Following similar strategy to that of Starbucks
• Starbucks opened first location in Japan 10 yrs.
  Ago
• Didnt do much mass media advertising
• Sponsored fashion shows and music events
• Gave out free samples in chic shopping areas

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Marketing Implications

• Target Demographic Segmentation Japan
• Young
• Female
• Single
• Trendy/Fashionable
• Target Demographic in US
• Suburban families

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Marketing Implications

• Adaptation
• Adapted marketing strategy to suit Japan
• Trendy/fashionable image to appeal to edgy high-
  school students and professional women
• Depend on word of mouth advertising

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Marketing Implications

• Adoption
• Same store setup/look
• Unfamiliar flavors make it stand out
• Singing share

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Is the Strategy Working?

• Customers wait in line over an hour for ice cream
• Cold Stone continues to expand to the rest of
  Asia
• 20-30 stores in Japan next year
• First shop opened in Korea
• 105 stores to open in China in the next 7 years

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Is the Strategy Working?

• Starbucks now huge success
• Trends die and Japanese may move on to next fad
• Success may be short lived
• Avg. American eats ice cream 7-9 times/month
• Avg. Japanese person eats it only 2-3 times/month

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Any Questions?