StartupTalky

Tag: PR

  • Magnum Ice Cream SWOT Analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, USP & Marketing Strategy

    Brands like Magnum become instant favorites of people. The credit goes to the public relations team that works behind the scenes and creates mind-boggling marketing strategies and advertisements. These help the brand build its place in the market. And for Magnum, it’s Unilever that is responsible for the media spend spanning across TV, outdoor, digital, and PR mediums. Today, Magnum is a leading global brand, selling 1 billion units annually, making it the largest of Unilever’s ice cream brands.

    FMCG Giant Unilever has also expanded its distribution from its stronghold of Europe to the US and China. Its popularity in India is only increasing with each passing day. The company’s marketing strategy makes it a formidable competitor, lures people into trying Magnum Ice Cream, markets the ice cream as an adult indulgence brand with a touch of sex appeal, and communicates the royal theme of the brand.

    About Magnum
    Magnum Target Audience
    Magnum Brand Positioning
    Magnum Marketing Strategy
    Magnum SWOT Analysis
    Magnum Inbound Strategy
    Magnum Outbound Strategy
    Magnum Mobile Campaigns
    Magnum Social Media for Marketing Campaign

    About Magnum

    Magnum Ice Cream was developed in Belgium at the Ola laboratory in cooperation with the Belgian chocolate producer Callebaut. It was released in Germany in the year 1989 as an upmarket/luxury ice cream for the Nogger brand. Magnum is now owned by the British/Dutch company Unilever. The company also has a strong social media presence via Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

    Magnum Ice Cream has emphasized its dominance by coming up with highly imaginative flavor combinations, fancy packaging, and limited-edition promotions. With the help of Magnum, Unilever remains an innovator responsible for single-handedly pushing forward the variety of extravagant confectionery blends that can be successfully packaged as an ice-cream stick.

    The company began testing a dairy-free vegan version of ice cream in selected markets (including New Zealand and Sweden) in 2019. Magnum wasn’t popular in the United States, but with the changes in the premium ice cream sector in the country in recent years, partly because of Nestle’s Häagen-Dazs ice cream bars, it is gaining traction. Magnum was launched in the US in 2011.

    Nestle Marketing Strategy Uncovered: Target Market, Advertising, Promotion & More
    Discover Nestle’s marketing strategy, including its target market, advertising and promotion strategy, and key marketing insights. Learn how Nestle reaches its global audience.
    StartupTalkyArchana Karthikeyan

    Magnum Target Audience

    Magnum’s target audience belongs to the 14-45-year age group. It has loyal customers who prefer premium ice cream. The target market of Magnum is the upper niche class. The company focuses on people who wouldn’t mind spending a bit more on ice cream to indulge in supreme quality eatables. These people are willing to spend on style, quality, brand value, status, etc.

    The global sales figure of Magnum was $2.54 billion in 2015,45-year which was an increase of 8% from the year before. Unilever strives to maintain its edge in most markets by positioning Magnum as an affordable luxury treat for adults. The segmentation of Magnum’s target audience is done on the basis of income, social status, economic class, and esteem level.

    Magnum Ice Cream’s marketing strategy focuses on the smaller but elite segment of society. Magnum takes into consideration the needs and the benefits of customers, which are useful for identifying market opportunities and developing value propositions.

    Amul Marketing Strategy: Branding, Advertising, Pricing & Promotion Strategies That Made It a Household Name
    Discover the complete marketing strategies of Amul, including its branding, advertising, pricing, promotion tactics, and marketing mix. Learn how Amul’s smart marketing approach made it one of India’s most trusted dairy brands.
    StartupTalkyGorish Dua

    Magnum Brand Positioning

    Positioning is extremely important for the brand when it tries to build an image in the minds of its customers. It involves parameters that differentiate the product from the competitors in the same category. Positioning means how consumers rate Magnum in comparison to other ice cream brands such as Amul, Baskin-Robbins, and Mother Dairy. They also happen to be the main competitors of Magnum.

    Magnum’s positioning strategy can only be sustained if it continues to deliver the promised consumer value. The quality and price positioning state that higher prices for higher quality. Magnum’s positioning appeals to stylish people and the customers who associate a premium brand with priceless quality.

    Magnum Ice Cream Innovations Timeline (2017-2022)

    Magnum Timeline
    Magnum Timeline
    Year Innovation
    2017 Introduced cracking chocolate ice cream tubs with packaging that encourages squeezing the tub.
    2018 Launched vegan versions of Classic and Almond Magnums, promising 100% pleasure.
    2019 Debuted the Double range in the US, crafted for ‘multiple layers of decadence’.
    2020 Introduced Magnum Ruby, featuring ruby chocolate made from ruby cocoa beans, pink in color.
    2021 Launched Magnum Double Gold Caramel Billionaire in stick format and tub, under 250 calories.
    2022 Introduced Remixes of Magnum Classics, combining complementary flavors with classic favorites.

    Magnum Marketing Strategy

    Magnum Marketing Strategy
    Magnum Marketing Strategy

    Promotion of Ice-Cream Sticks in an Appealing Way

    Magnum ice-cream sticks are marketed as luxurious indulgences, highlighting their rich flavors and premium ingredients. The brand uses visually stunning advertisements and engaging social media content to create a sense of sophistication and pleasure.

    Promotion of the Dairy-Free Vegan Variety of the Ice Cream

    Magnum promotes its dairy-free vegan options through targeted campaigns that emphasize their delicious taste and creamy texture. Highlighting sustainable, high-quality ingredients, these campaigns appeal to both vegan consumers and those reducing dairy intake.

    Focusing on the Smaller, Elite Section of Society

    Magnum targets a smaller, elite section of society by positioning itself as a luxury brand. This focus on high-end lifestyles and premium experiences appeals to consumers who value quality and exclusivity.

    Clever Segmentation of the Market

    Magnum uses clever market segmentation to cater to diverse consumer needs, targeting groups like young professionals, health-conscious individuals, and luxury seekers. Tailored messaging ensures the brand resonates with a wide audience.

    The Interesting & Engaging Magnum Pleasure Test

    The Magnum Pleasure Test invites consumers to discover their perfect Magnum flavor through a fun, personalized test. This interactive campaign deepens consumer engagement and promotes product variety.

    Mobile Ad Campaign

    Magnum’s mobile ad campaigns utilize rich media ads, interactive content, and location-based targeting to reach consumers on the go. This approach ensures high engagement rates and boosts brand awareness.

    Experiential Marketing

    Magnum brings its luxury image to life through experiential marketing like the Magnum Pleasure Store pop-ups. These stylish spaces turn buying ice cream into a premium experience where customers can taste, explore, and share on social media. With carefully chosen lights, music, and scents, the brand creates a full sensory environment that makes ice cream feel like a luxury treat. This not only excites people in the moment but also builds lasting loyalty to the brand.

    Promotion of Magnum’s Limited Ice Cream Variants

    Magnum creates excitement with limited-edition ice cream variants, encouraging quick purchases before they disappear. These promotions feature innovative flavors and premium ingredients, strengthening the brand’s luxury image.

    Twitter Campaigns with Audience Participation

    Magnum’s Twitter campaigns encourage user participation through contests, branded hashtags, and sharing Magnum moments. This strategy increases brand visibility and builds a loyal online community.

    Celebrity Endorsements

    Jennifer Winget and Kareena Kapoor - Magnum Brand Ambassador
    Jennifer Winget and Kareena Kapoor – Magnum Brand Ambassador

    Collaborating with celebrities like Kareena Kapoor Khan enhances Magnum’s brand appeal and reach. She has been roped in to urge consumers to get #LostinPleasure through a selfie campaign. The month-long contest is asking people to send in their selfies with a Magnum Ice Cream stick in hand, and a creative reason why Magnum gets them lost in pleasure. Recently, Jennifer Winget endorsed Magnum in 2024. Celebrity endorsements add glamour and credibility, attracting fans and boosting brand recognition.

    Magnum SWOT Analysis

    The SWOT analysis of Magnum offers a clear view of the brand’s overall market position, helping to understand the internal and external factors that influence its growth, challenges, and long-term opportunities.

    Magnum Ice Cream SWOT Analysis
    Magnum SWOT Analysis

    Magnum Strengths

    • Use of the finest ingredients
    • Position as the first luxury ice cream brand
    • Adult-focused marketing
    • Exquisite packaging

    Magnum Weaknesses

    • Limited awareness in the US market
    • Concerns about nutrition labeling
    • High costs
    • Competition from Trojan Magnums

    Magnum Opportunities

    • Expanding flavor variety
    • Increasing vendor partnerships
    • Leveraging a year-round market

    Magnum Threats

    • FDA regulations
    • Rise of health-conscious consumers
    • Strong competitors

    Most Profitable Ice Cream Franchises in India | Top Picks
    Discover the most profitable ice cream franchise opportunities in India today. Explore brands like Naturals, Giani’s, Amul and Baskin-Robbins with high margins, investment costs, and ROI timelines.
    StartupTalkySakshi Jadhav

    Magnum Inbound Strategy

    When Magnum was launched in India in February 2014, the Magnum Pleasure Patrol was an activation executed as part of the launch. Over 2000 people across Mumbai and Pune got to taste Magnum ice cream samples from 22nd February to 24th February 2014. A luxury vehicle visited gourmet cafes, malls, and high-traffic areas with an emcee and a camera crew, capturing people’s reactions after their first bite of Magnum’s ice cream.

    There was another campaign in which people offered their idea of pleasure, be it a day at the spa or unlimited shopping. They were put through the Magnum Pleasure test that required them to choose between Magnum and their idea of pleasure after having tasted some ice cream. Understandably, all resistance failed while Magnum scored on the test.

    Magnum Outbound Strategy

    Magnum’s marketing success is heavily reliant on its outbound strategy, which is evident through its ATL activities and out-of-home campaigns. Since the brand connects with well-traveled people, it is present in Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia. For outbound marketing, Magnum conducts hyper-local activities that can be measured in sales. One such instance is the product launch spike in areas with high footfall.

    Magnum Mobile Campaigns

    The Magnum marketing team came up with a rich media mobile ad campaign that would allow users to tweet from within the mobile ad directly. The mobile ad campaign was part of an all-encompassing marketing strategy that included both Above the Line (ATL) and Below the Line (BTL) executions.

    This ad campaign provided Magnum with a platform to quickly reach a large user base and create awareness. It also got people talking about Magnum through Tweets and pictures, and maximized their participation in the Twitter contest.

    Magnum Social Media for Marketing Campaign

    Magnum came up with a two-phase marketing campaign strategy that promoted the product to the masses in a controlled manner. The first phase offered exclusivity. To prioritize the distribution of the product, the brand asked people to Tweet for limited Magnum Infinity ice creams to be distributed in their city.

    The city with the most Tweets got to try the limited Magnum Infinity first. By doing this, each Tweet represented a chance for a person residing in some city to try the product before everyone else. To sustain excitement and drive sales, Magnum launched the second phase of the campaign, where the consumer’s Tweet earned him or her a chance to go on a trip to London. The person who collected the most points won. One could either Tweet or put up a unique code on Twitter to participate.

    By providing consumers with an interface to Tweet within the ad, the campaign got them talking about the brand and their experience with Magnum Infinity. It helped Magnum connect with the intended audience and generated a buzz among people about Magnum Infinity. The campaign also ensured continuous user engagement and increased the brand recall.

    #NotAvailableInTheMetaverse Magnum Campaign

    This campaign of Unilever for Magnum ice cream launches VR goggles to encourage consumers to indulge in real-life pleasure, highlighting that some sensations can’t be replicated virtually.

    FAQs

    Who is the brand ambassador of Magnum?

    Kareena Kapoor Khan is Magnum’s Brand Ambassador.

    What is Magnum’s Pricing Strategy?

    The quality and price positioning of Magnum state higher price for higher quality. Magnum’s positioning appeals to stylish people and the customers that associate a premium brand with priceless quality.

    What is Magnum’s target market?

    Magnum’s target audience belongs to the 14-45 years age group. It has loyal customers who prefer premium ice cream. The target market of Magnum is the upper niche class.

    Who owns Magnum?

    Magnum is now owned by the British/Dutch company Unilever.

    What is Magnum USP?

    Magnum unique selling point is a Luxury ice cream experience with rich taste, premium ingredients, and indulgent lifestyle appeal.

    What are Magnum ice cream strengths and weaknesses?

    Magnum’s strengths lie in its use of the finest ingredients, its position as the first luxury ice cream brand, its adult-focused marketing, and its elegant packaging. However, it also faces weaknesses such as limited awareness in the US market, concerns over nutrition labeling, high product costs, and brand confusion due to competition from Trojan Magnums.

  • Winning PR Strategy for Startups: A Comprehensive Guide

    This article has been contributed by Komal Rukhana, Founder, Mint and Milk.

    In today’s competitive landscape, startups need effective Public Relations (PR) strategies to establish their brand, connect with their target audience, and gain media attention. Crafting a winning PR strategy is essential for building credibility and driving growth. This guide outlines key components for a successful PR strategy tailored for startups.

    1. Understand Your Brand and Message

    Before launching any PR efforts, it’s crucial to have a clear understanding of your brand identity. Define your mission, vision, and values. What sets you apart from competitors? What story do you want to tell? A compelling brand narrative forms the backbone of your PR strategy.

    Key Steps:

    – Understand the company’s standing in the market, analyse their competitors and observe the trends of their target audience

    – Sell a story, not the product/ service. With the world being so competitive, to keep your niche engaged, you need to create a strong story that resonates with you and is authentic to your values

    – Don’t divulge and try to do everything all at once just to get temporary traction. It’s a fast paced world and we understand a brand’s requirement to consistently stand out, but PR takes time. You build a brand with consistency. And often in trying to maximise reach, brands divulge from their objective and core goal.

    2. Develop a PR Plan

    A structured PR plan provides a roadmap for your efforts. Outline your goals, target audience, key messages, tactics, and metrics for measuring success.

    Components of a PR Plan:

    – Highlight your core messaging and short term objective. This helps in measuring outcome at the end of every campaign

    – Ensure all your strategies – PR/ media, influencers, collaborations, events, all align with the objective

    – Fuel your creativity – if you don’t think out of the box and take risks, your strategy might fall flat

    – Measure KPIs along the way so plans can be altered, don’t wait for the campaign the conclude before identifying achievements

    3. Craft Engaging Press Releases

    Press releases are a fundamental tool in PR. They should communicate newsworthy information in a clear and engaging manner.

    Writing Tips:

    – Craft a compelling personalised headline that grabs attention, along with a succinct subheadline.

    – Pitch your angle in a crisp, convincing way. Personalise the pitch to the media outlets and journalists. The same story will be relevant to different publications in different ways, tap into that. Provide context, background information, and quotes from key stakeholders. Include data and statistics to support your claims. 

    – Conclude with a call to action that invites the journalist to feature the brand or have an interaction with its founders. 

    4. Leverage Social Media

    Social media platforms are powerful tools for amplifying your PR efforts. Use them to engage with your audience, share updates, and interact with the media.

    Best Practices:

    – Maintain a cohesive brand voice and aesthetic across all platforms.

    – Respond to comments, share user-generated content, and participate in relevant conversations to make your authenticity stand out. 

    – Talk to your audiences, genuinely listen to what they have to say, accept their feedback and work on it.

    – Mix up your content every now and then with images, videos, infographics, and live updates to keep your audience engaged.

    Evolution of Public Relations – How the Industry Started?
    Public Relations is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organisation to the public to influence their perception.
    StartupTalkyKinnary Nensee

    5. Build Relationships with Journalists

    Media relationships are crucial for securing coverage. Personalize your outreach to build rapport with journalists and bloggers.

    Strategies:

    – Start by following journalists on social media and engaging with their content. Share their articles and comment on their posts to get noticed.

    – Tailor your pitches based on the journalist’s interests. Understand their beat and style of writing, instead of blindly pitching all stories to all journalists. Highlight why your story is relevant to their specific audience.

    – Keep the messaging short and start a dialogue with the journalist to understand what kind of a story angle they would be more keen on. You can accordingly tweak your pitch.

    – Offer expert insights or quotes that journalists can use in their stories, even if it doesn’t directly involve your startup.

    6. Utilize Influencer Marketing

    Influencer marketing can significantly boost your PR efforts. Partnering with influencers who align with your brand can enhance credibility and reach.

    Steps to Collaborate:

    – Research influencers in your niche who have a genuine following and engagement. Understand the influencer’s audience, deep dive into their profile and conversations they have with their followers and it is equally essential to work with influencers who are passionate about your brand and their story

    – Reach out to them with personalized messages explaining why a partnership would be mutually beneficial.

    – Define what you hope to achieve through the collaboration (e.g., product reviews, social media posts).

    7. Monitor and Measure Success

    Tracking the success of your PR efforts is vital for continuous improvement. Utilize analytics tools to measure media coverage, social media engagement, and website traffic.

    Metrics to Track:

    – Media Coverage: Assess the number of articles written about your startup and their reach.

    – Social Media Engagement: Monitor likes, shares, comments, and follower growth.

    – Website Traffic: Use tools like Google Analytics to track referral traffic from PR campaigns.

    While the above metrics are prominent to assess progress, it is of utmost importance to keep in mind the following points as well: 

    – Consistently speak to your client, understand what worked and what didn’t because PR and brand building is a long term process and does not have a direct measurable metric.

    – Try permutations and combinations, do not stick to one formula that worked in the past.

    – Analyse industry trends to diversify reach.

    8. Adapt and Evolve

    The PR landscape is ever-changing, especially for startups. Be prepared to adapt your strategy based on feedback and results.

    Continuous Improvement:

    – Regularly seek feedback from your team and audience to refine your approach.

    – Keep an eye on industry trends and competitor strategies to remain relevant.

    At M&M, we have come up with a concept called “Best Practices” to make the best possible use of the feedback received from the client and the audience across all our projects. The idea is to summarize the strategies implemented and the response received from the client and the audience for the whole team. This helps us stay on top of the expectations and deliver better services.

    Wrapping Up

    A winning PR strategy for startups is about telling your story, building relationships, and continuously adapting to the evolving landscape. By understanding your brand, crafting engaging content, leveraging social media, and measuring your success, you can create a powerful PR presence that drives growth and visibility. Start small, stay consistent, and watch your startup’s reputation flourish in the marketplace.

    How to Leverage PR and Media for Brand Growth
    Learn how to use PR and media for brand growth, boost visibility, and build trust with your audience. Explore the simple strategies for business success.
    StartupTalkyVarun Bhardwaj

  • Digital Transformation in The PR Industry Over The Years

    An opinion by Tanya Swetta, Co Founder and CEO – id8 media solutions.

    2001 – the year I graduated from college in Mumbai, the education scenario for PR professionals was just emerging, this means that there really weren’t many good institutions to choose from to pursue public relations. One of the best of these, the Xavier’s Institute of Communications had newly introduced a “working peoples” PR course, which was scheduled all weekdays but only in the evenings- from 6 to 8pm.

    Cut to 2022, aspiring PR professionals today have a plethora of options to choose from in terms of courses, institutions, both online and offline, working, part time and full time.

    The PR industry globally has seen a phenomenal growth in terms of skills and business size. It was calculated that the global PR market was worth 88 billion U.S. dollars in 2020. By the end of 2025 the industry is expected to surpass a value of 129 billion dollars, at a CAGR of 7.4 percent (Sources: Statista).

    It is very encouraging to see the growth of this sector, mainly due to the rise in demand for relevant, timely and accurate content that can be used as a tool of advocacy towards both internal and external stakeholders. PR has always been an extremely useful tool in creating awareness, but today, with the inundation of digital and social, the main value that PR brings to the table is the ability to create a bridge of trust between the consumer and the brand.

    Its interesting and exciting to see how smart PR professionals and innovative PR companies have adopted digital and social media into their world and use these tools effectively to communicate with their target audience. Earlier, it was important to have an event to showcase the launch of a brand, product or service. today, a smart, effective and strategic public relations strategy can overcome this hurdle by using an integrated mix of online, offline and word of mouth campaigns to reach a large audience in a short period of time.

    All About YouTube Creator Program for Journalists
    YouTube Creator Program is an initiative to support journalists. Know all about YouTube Creator program and eligibility to apply for it.
    StartupTalkyMedha Shukla

    The relationship and roles of a journalist and a PR professional too have blurred over the years, with journalists marketing their content and PR professionals doing the thinking hat of a journalist in order to effectively and intelligently communicate their message (press release) to the audience.

    In the 2000’s up to 2010 – measurement of PR too tended to be a grey area. The most common method of measuring success was the size and positioning of the article in relationship to the category of media the article appeared in. Today, thanks to digital tools, PR can be measured as per circulation, readership, impressions, website traffic and share of voice, a much better and evolved way of measurement, and a method that every agency adopts as per their own internal strategies.

    I would say that digital transformation has surely been a big boon to public relations, earlier, there was a need to manually do research and find the right journalist to pitch to, today, there are multiple platforms available that allow you to browse the category and find the journalist or set of journalists specific to the beat you are searching.

    Public relations has come of age today, internal communications is a big part of what we do at id8 media solutions. Most companies need to have a professional agency communicate their values, culture, business plans, leadership and objectives to both internal and external stakeholders, this helps the company in many ways such as HR, government advocacy, positive reinforcement to key management and top level employees and much more. To see your company positioned in a good light is always a win!

    The science of public relations has evolved a lot as well. Earlier, a simple pitch may have worked to be able to garner a good large story for your client. Today, if you are not pitch perfect, down to the research and the tonality, you can kiss a good story goodbye!

    I have always been a huge fan of organic PR, this is even more challenging in todays day and age, with paid media being the trending and hot topic of this decade. An organic story has immense value, the customer reading this knows that the story is real, written by a respected journalist who has gone through the trouble of whetting the brand product or service before writing about it. This is invaluable.

    Another aspect that has changed in PR is that today, when you release the news, you are not just releasing it to your own country, you are releasing it to the world in one shot! This has drastically changed the timelines that a traditional old PR set would adhere to, its extremely dynamic and very exciting to be able to strategize a global release, timing it to perfection to hit every country in the globe!

    The biggest change that the public relations professional has seen, is the medium where the press release is going to be done. For example, in the earlier days, the only person your release was meant to influence was the journalist whom you were sending it to. Today, PR is about creating campaigns that can run across social, digital, print and television, so its very dynamic, detailed and extensive. this also makes it way more exciting! I cant wait to see what the next few years bring to the PR table.