German marketing traditionally has focused on quality differentiation and quantifiable data - BMW's engine is x-times more efficient, Siemens' washing machine uses x% less water, Daimler's BLUETEC diesel has x% lower emissions, Porsche's sedan can accelerate from 0 to 60 in x seconds, etc...
US product marketing generally employs a very wide arsenal of tactics, but still often relies on selling the consumer a dream. If I drink this beer, the women will want me....If I carry this phone, I'm ahead of the curve....If I buy x, I'm environmentally conscious but not wasteful with my money....
In Germany, we're starting to see the emotional and aspirational marketing creeping into the product selection. In the ice cream selection, they've gone far to the extreme. Langnese (the German brand for Unilever's ice cream - Walls in the UK and Asia, Good Humor in the US) currently is promoting two ice cream flavors where you can buy romance. Like fire and ice, you can choose the "Eiskalt" romance of Dr. Zhivago or the fiery passion of Gone with the Wind.
The Doctor Zhivago flavor is described as an "ice-cold" film romance of snow-white ice cream with marscapone, lemon ice cream, fine vodka-lemon sauce and tiny chocolate snowflakes.
Gone with the Wind, on the other hand, is a fruity raspberry and dark chocolate ice creams with fire-red raspberry sauce. (it also appears to have dark chocolate sprinkles on top)
While these are a special promotion, many of their other ice creams sell a similar dream - usually a dream of exotic and magical destinations. And, given the German love of travel, it seems like a pretty good aspiration to sell.
We haven't tried them yet, though they seem to be just a bit too much to me. Perhaps the cherry and chocolate one would be good, but the others have so many different flavors in there!
What are the flavors?
Kirschzauber: Cherry Magic: A magical combination of sour cherry and vanilla-poppyseed ice cream with sour cherry sauce and tiny chocolate flowers. (note: the "poppyseed" is a bit hard to describe. In Germany, it's "mohn," a common filling for pastries and cakes. While it is poppyseed, it's not crunchy like the ones commonly sprinkled on rolls)
Safari Afrika: Creamy chocolate ice cream, swirled with delicious vanilla ice cream, intense chocolate sauce, and tiny chocolate paws.
Andalusische Träume: Andalusian Dreams: Vanilla-orange ice cream, swirled with cherry-sherry saue with tiny chocolate hearts.
Dschungelzauber: Jungle Magic: Creamy pistachio ice cream swirled with delicious vanilla ice cream with chocolate-coconut sauce and tiny chocolate apes.
What do you think? Do you buy the ice cream dream, or just go for a good flavor? For me, Langnese also makes the delightful Magnum bars (thank you Thailand for teaching me about Magnums!!) with their rich chocolate and so creamy ice cream. The new Ghana Cocoa bar (milk chocolate shell with hazelnut ice cream and fudge swirls) is my second favorite ice cream bar ever. Doesn't quite beat the Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter Cookie Dough bar, but I'm willing to test out all the competition!