The location of a product on the product life cycle is an important indicator of how the product should be marketed. After all, there is no reason for a Super Bowl ad for a product in the declining stage. But how do marketers bring new life and positioning to mature products. Well, Kraft has done a good job with this summer’s new ice cream flavor.
It’s the time of year when the demand for ice cream is at a peak. Favorite flavors include, chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, rocky road, mac and cheese, chocolate chip… Wait, what? Mac & Cheese flavored ice cream?
Yes, you read that correctly. In a new food mashup that takes advantage of its reputation as a traditional comfort food, Kraft Mac & Cheese Ice Cream was (briefly) available to help quench our summer desire for cool treats. Kraft worked with Brooklyn-based Van Leeuwen ice cream for a co-branded product that looks suspiciously yellow and supposedly tastes like mac and cheese.
The new flavor was only available online and at 23 Van Leeuwen shops in New York, Los Angeles, and Houston. Unfortunately for fans, the gluten-free ice cream quickly sold out.
This isn’t Kraft’s only mashup. Last year Kraft teamed with Cheetos for Cheetos Mac & Cheese in three spicy flavors: Bold & Cheesy, Flamin’ Hot, and Cheesy Jalapeno. These types of food combinations – mashups – bring renewed interest to old, familiar foods and flavors. It’s also a perfect blend for social media postings to involve old and new consumers.
What else could use a mashup?
Group Activities and Discussion Questions:
- Poll students: What are their favorite ice cream flavors? Has anyone had a uniquely produced ice cream?
- Discuss the marketing appeal of unusual product mashups.
- Show the ice cream Website: https://vanleeuwenicecream.com/product/kraft-mac-and-cheese/
- Show video about the product: https://youtu.be/x12V_AyLA2w
- Where is ice cream on the product life cycle? How about Mac & Cheese?
- Where is the new product on the PLC? What is the expected length of the cycle?
- Divide students into teams. Have each team choose two brands for a mashup product.
- How should these new products be marketed?
- What are the potential results?
Source: Ad Week; NPR; other news sources
