You come to a Cold Stone Creamery ice cream shop for the first time, not because you’ve seen any advertising, but because you’ve heard by word of mouth. When you walk in, you walk right into a Brand Experience. You see unexpected, appealing product differences all around that are thematically consistent and uniquely “Cold Stone.”
On top of the quality benchmarks for any ice cream store (clean, bright surroundings, ice cream on display, colorful promotional pieces, and friendly staff behind the counter), there are some Cold Stone bonuses: only a few base flavors are displayed next to countless mix-ins… some predictable like crushed Heath Bars, chopped Reeses’s Peanut Butter cups,fruits, nuts, and sprinkles. Some are completely unexpected like apple pie pieces and cheesecake crusts.
Right away it’s different. As you get close to the counter, you see the big frozen stone where all the mixing is done. So, instead of being bored in line, you get to watch all the outrageous flavors created fresh by skilled employees for the folks in front of you, and you get to see if theirs is better than yours or really yucky.
The decor is full of whacky flavor suggestions and ice cream photos. The staff refer to themselves as Ice Cream Consultants. There is no walking out of Cold Stone without perceiving a wonderful, unique brand experience that you or anyone else can articulate enthusiastically to the uninitiated whom you’ll inevitably tell, “What, you’ve never been to Cold Stone? It’s this ice cream place where they mix any flavor of ice cream you want on a frozen counter, right in front of you.”
Custom crafted creamy goodness. It’s product and performance rolled into one. Yummers!
About Wendi McGowan