Bangkok--Apr 5--PR&Associates
Nestle Ice Cream Starts the Year 2005 with a New Captain at the Helm, plus an expansion of its ‘Blue Universe’ Campaign, with a Budget of Over 700 MB following Expansion of Market Share to 40%
Nestle Ice Cream announces its strong success to have closed out the year 2004 by capturing its market share at 40%. This success marks a continuous annual growth rate of over 30% for the past two years.
Mr. Philippe Eberle, the new general manager, reports that sales rose by 30% amidst intense competition in the ice cream market, which has a combined value of 5.8 billion baht and an annual growth rate of 7-10%. With sales growth of another 30% expected in 2005, this should increase Nestle Ice Cream’s market share in Thailand to 42%.
Nestle Ice Cream’s success is a reflection of its ‘Blue Mission’ campaign, the heart of which is continuous innovations in the three pillars of its business, namely, product, branding, and distribution channels. This year, following the same strategy, Nestle Ice Cream will focus on exploring unbounded creativity through its campaign “Blue Mission: Expedite the Blue Universe”.
Mr. Eberle explained the concept behind “The ‘Blue Universe’ by comparing the campaign’s imaginative energy to the limitless expanse of the galaxies. It covers products, product visibility and distribution channels, and aims at bridging the gap between the company and its customers in all segmentations. The “stars” and “planets” of Nestle Ice Cream’s ‘Blue Universe’ represent the innovations continuously developed for consumers’ pleasure because, for Nestle Ice Cream, taste is only part of the consumers’ total experience: eating a Nestle ice cream should also provide magic combined with enjoyment, excitement and inspiration.”
The three ‘Blue Universe’ ice cream product innovations showcased at the event consist of Extreme Gold, Star Wars, and Sundae, with specific product features design to satisfy consumer desires.
Extreme Gold is an innovative product aimed at the teens and young adult segments. The cone is made of milk chocolate, unlike other ice creams in this category that have wafer cones — the first time this is available in the Thai market — thus creating a new taste experience. Consumers will enjoy the ice cream from the first till the last bite!
Star Wars ice cream is another milestone in product innovation, following last year’s hit, “Spiderman” ice cream. This kids’ range product has been designed to represent the shape of the famous lead villain Darth Vader in the Star Wars movie. It is expected to be a huge success in the local market as it will be release in conjunction with the latest episode in the Star Wars series, which will be on screen in Thailand around May.
As for the Sundae, this is a soft-serve ice cream that may be extruded by the customers themselves, allowing them to use their imagination when decorating the ice cream, and, again, Nestle Ice Cream is the first company to introduce this interactive format for serving ice cream to Thailand.
For this year -- 2005 -- Nestle Ice Cream has injected a budget of over 700 million baht for marketing promotion and the expansion of sales and distribution channels. This will expand the ‘Blue Mission’ campaign with this year’s theme: “Blue Mission 3: Expedite the Blue Universe”. It represents a fundamental push to generate aggressive growth, expand the distribution network and offer consumers a constant stream of breakthrough products and exciting marketing initiatives.
The management’s strategic vision is also critical for continuing success. As Mr. Eberle explained: “Nestle Ice Cream is not a one-man show. It is team effort involving all staff, each and everyone of whom is vital to the success of the organization. It is a force powered by everyone’s imagination and creativity. Listening to ideas of just one group or one person will not enable constructive innovation. Therefore, the success of Nestle Ice Cream is not the success of any one individual — rather, it is the success of a team in which everyone works proudly together. As the captain of a ship that is filled with innovations and challenges, I feel that both leadership as well as providing support and offering appropriate advice to the work team, are of equal importance.”
This year, Nestle Ice Cream will continue to expand its market and increase distribution channels by organizing new and exceptional sales promotion activities for maximum consumer satisfaction. At the same time, Nestle Ice Cream is constructively moving forward and establishing close relationships with our business partners, for example, beginning in 2005 with exclusive contract with convenience stores such as Family Mart and exclusive distributorship arrangements with petrol station outlets such as Star Mart, Select, Lemmon Green, Lotus Express, and Everyday. Nestle Ice Cream has a market share of 75-80% for the last two years in this distribution channel and a 95% market share in distribution at amusement parks such as Dream World, Sampran Garden, Safari World, and Pattaya Park.
Nestle Ice Cream is also expanding sales channels through tricycle vendors, department stores, convenience stores, and educational institutions, with sales representatives covering nationwide territories.
With its current growth rate, Nestle Ice Cream continues to be the fastest growing ice cream company in Thailand with its firm commitment to consumers and constant development of innovation to offer the local market more magical pleasure, full of excitement and enjoyment, Mr.Eberle concluded.
For more information, please contact:
Ms. Slilla Svetsreni
PR&Associates
Tel. 0-2651 8989 ext. 335
Fax. 0-2651 9649
Email: [email protected]
Ms. Natwadee Wongsuntorn
Nestle Ice Cream
Tel: 0-2648 4858, 0-2648 4800 # 4858, 4849
Fax: 0-2648 8978
Email: [email protected] End.