Daily Archives: May 17, 2007

Frozen Dairy Dessert

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If I offer up these three words frozen dairy dessert, what image does it conger up? “Frozen” I get. “Dairy” I get. “Dessert” I get.  But together these three words suggest ice milk. Not ice cheese, there’s no such thing. And not ice cream, because if it was ice cream they would call it ice cream. I’m not sure what it is because the context is fuzzy.
 
Now, if I put a picture of an Edy’s quart container in front of you, with a picture of a heaping bowl of ice cream on the carton and cookie dough chocolate chips all over the place, what do you think of? Ice Cream! But “Edy’s Loaded” is not ice cream, it’s Frozen Dairy Dessert. Low fat ice cream, I presume.
 
Who decided to call it frozen dairy dessert?  The product manager? The government? (Can’t call it ice cream if it has no cream in it.) Lawyers? Who knows?
 
New product marketing is all about context.  If you have good context, then you needn’t spend lots of time educating the public while you are selling. In the case of Edy’s Loaded, the picture provides the context. The stuff looks great and I know what it is, no matter what you call it. Edy’s wouldn’t want to do a radio ad on this product, not and call it “Frozen Dairy Dessert.”