Baskin-Robbins: Can It Bask in the Good Ole Days?

It was early December and Baskin-Robbins Brand Officer Ken Kimmel had just returned from lunch. To his surprise, his walk from the parking lot to the Randolph, Massachusetts, head-quarters building had quickly turned into a sprint. Kimmel was trying to avoid the chilly effects of a Noreaster that was whipping most of New England with arctic winds.

Like the nasty weather Kimmel just escaped, the frozen-food retailing industry had become more hostile to Baskin-Robbins (www.baskinrobbins.com) in recent years. Competitors, such as Cold Stone Creamery, had popularized the in-store experience with customers watching their ice cream creations being made before their eyes on cold stone slabs. For years, Baskin-Robbins had turned their back to Cold Stone Creamerys gains, in a similar way the Baskin-Robbins counter staff turned their back on customers to make a banana split. Cold Stone Creamerys sales were now catching up and the company could no longer ignore them.

In response, the Baskin-Robbins executive group along with Kimmel had recently moved to redesign stores, but it was not easy convincing the thousands of franchisees who ran the Baskin-Robbins stores to change. A store redesign could run up to $50,000 and was funded mostly by the franchisees. One aspect of the redesign resulted in lowering the ice cream cases to make it easier for children to look down into the ice cream bins.

Another change being considered was changing the Baskin-Robbins logo to coincide with the redesign of store interiors. The logo appears on napkins, cone wrappers, spoons, cups, uniforms, and signs at each Baskin-Robbins store. The estimated cost for making such a change was $5 million for Baskin-Robbins headquarters. Individual franchisees would have to invest about $10,000 for the logo change to be made inside the stores.

Later that afternoon, Kimmels brand group was deep in discussion about whether to change the brand symbol of Baskin-Robbins at the same time stores would be redesigned.

The context has changed since the mid-1980s, according to retailing consultant Zack Wheatly. Customers are more demanding about the hospitality experience. They earn more money and they can buy comparable ice creams to Baskin-Robbins in grocery stores.

Kimmel sensed it was time to mention recent strategy decisions by the Baskin-Robbins ex-ecutive group. While our competitors are pushing this mix-in experiencea higher-priced theater experienceBaskin-Robbins has decided to focus on delivering a great value for our consumers in an accessible kind of environment, Kimmel responded. The executive group has decided that we are going to focus on our new products as opposed to the theater of the business. As part of this new emphasis, we have recently begun highlighting innovations such as our own frozen coffee beveragethe Cappuccino Blastand a fruit-based beverageBold Breezes. Carrying frozen custard is also on the horizon.

Marsha Davis, Kimmels research director, took her turn in the conversation. Is Baskin-Robbins such an established brand that the logo for Baskin-Robbins should not be overhauled? Davis asked.

I know what you are suggesting, Wheatly replied. Conventional wisdom in this industry would say that one shouldnt tinker with an established brand.

We have discussed this among ourselves here at headquarters with the CEO and other senior executives, and we have also invested in hearing from consultants in retailing communications, Kimmel said. They think the decision to change the logo should be taken only after extensive deliberation and direct research with customers.

Right, Wheatly said. Analysts in the quick-service restaurant industry have reported in the trade journals that the new entrants have continued to grow faster than Baskin-Robbinsespecially in the key metric of same-store sales compared the previous year. What did the qualitative research say about the proposed new logos?

Davis paused, dug in her briefcase, and removed the glossy printed versions of the old logo and the leading candidate among the proposed new logos. She put them both on the table facing the others.

We talked with four focus groups in Chicago, LA, and New York and they agreed that the Baskin-Robbins brand represented irresistible treats, smiles, and fun, Davis said. They also liked this proposed logo that the senior executive group liked.

So where do we go from here? Kimmel asked.

Because your management wants to make a change to the logo only if it is necessary, you should study your customers attitude toward the new logo, so that you can explain whether a logo change is warranted, Wheatly said.

Everyone stopped talking to reflect on what was just said. After about 10 seconds, Kimmel raised an open hand to the group.

Wait. This is beginning to remind me of the New Coke introduction, Kimmel said after some reflection. Customers subjective attachment to the old Coke was ignored, then. We need to ask about the old logo, too. Also, I know the senior executives want a clear margin of preference for the new logo. If the new logo is not preferred 2:1 in a head-to-head competition with the old one, we need to drop it.

Wheatly picked up the line of thought.

OK, and now that you mention it, we also need to present the drawings of the new redesigned stores and have the customers respond to the old and new logos after understanding what our new stores will be like, Wheatly said.

So restating our problem, I guess it sounds this way, Davis said. Because management wants to make a change to the logo only if it is absolutely necessary, we should study our customers attitudes toward the old logo and toward the new logo after showing them the drawings of the redesigned stores. Only then can we explain whether customers prefer the new logo 2:1 over the old logo.

The words seem to hang in the air in the conference room at Baskin-Robbins headquarters. The statement of the marketing research problem was sounding much improved to Kimmel. But he also had the following thoughts: (1) Given that Baskin-Robbins had moved to redesign store interiors, should the brand logo be changed to signal something new is happening at Baskin-Robbins? (2) If the logo is changed, would there be synergy between the logo change and the redesigned interiors? Synergistic results could be dramatic. A new look, a new menu, and a new strategy focused on delivering irresistible treats, smiles, and fun in an accessible way and at a reasonable price could check the momentum rival brands have developed by focusing on a high-end, in-store experience. Considering these elements, the strategic importance of the Baskin-Robbins research project became more clear in Kimmels mind.

But had they missed anything in their process of developing the statement of the research problem? Were they focused upon the right issue now? Answer the following questions to identify what they should do.

What is the role of marketing research in deciding whether to change the logo in this case?

Why did Kimmel feel it was important to conduct this study?

Identify at least 3 methods used by Kimmel and his team to identify the marketing research problem in their own research detailed in the case. Evaluate their selection of methods.

Define the marketing research problem. What consequences are likely to follow if the research problem is defined incorrectly?

Identify 4 key research questions you would recommend for the problem.

What kind of secondary and syndicated data would be helpful in addressing the issue of changing the brand logo? Consider both internal and external sources. What is the role played by such data?

Choose one qualitative research methodology and design a study based on the objective and research questions. Make sure to create at least 5 questions you would ask or 3 methods of observation.

Do you think that Kimmel should commission a survey in this case? If yes, which survey method would you recommend and why?

After showing the respondent the old and the new logos, the following question is asked: Do you like the new logo better than the old logo? Critically evaluate the wording of this question. Write 8-10 good questions that they could ask on their survey (no demographic questions) and why you think they are appropriate for the research.

How will the findings of marketing research help them make a final decision about changing the brand logo?