How Perfetti Van Melle has targeted the lucrative millennials segment through its deals.
Targeting millennials by making memorable retail experiences has been a great success for Perfetti Van Melle’s lollipop brand, Chupa Chups.
Chupa Chups is present in over 130 countries and is the market leader in the lollipop segment in Europe, Russia and Japan.
A new partnership with confectionary retailer, IT’SUGAR in the US has helped give the brand a boost in this market with 75 stores operating a Chupa Chups ‘shop in shop’ with branded apparel and accessories alongside the iconic lollipops.
“Chupa Chups is one of the most popular lollipops in the world, with around one in four lollipops consumed being a Chupa Chups,” said Christine Cool, licensing area manager for Perfetti Van Melle. “We’ve been developing the Chupa Chups brand for over 15 years, and have been very successful in taking the brand into lifestyle and apparel categories.”
Chupa Chups main focus is the lucrative millennials segment, as Christine explains: “Millennials are digital natives and they want an interconnected experience between online and offline, which is a real challenge for retailers. We live in an instant world where everything is Instagram-able, shareable and pin-able. Retailers and brands need to tap into this together.”
Creating that buzz around retail and making memorable shopping experiences has been at the forefront of a number of successful retail partnerships for Chupa Chups at stores like H&M, Uniqlo, B.Duck, Pull&Bear and Sephora.
“We work together with our partners to create a whole 360-degree experience, right from the product and packaging through to the POS and on-going digital experience.”
Christine’s tips for success at retail:
- Carefully select your partners, make sure they share your vision.
- Stand out from the crowd, you need 360-degree coverage which has to include digital as well as the in-store experience.
- Embrace digital; embrace showrooming – use mobile technology to send shoppers offers on their phones while they are in-store. Give shoppers a platform to upload selfies from the changing room to your social media sites.
- Reward customer loyalty and surprise customers with novelties and events.
Christine Cool spoke as part of the SPLiCE Direct to Retail panel at BLE 2015.
