洋品牌冰激凌打响中国市场美味冷战

    这又回到了李所说的第一条原则：主加盟商是关键。对母公司来说，加盟商最了解哪些产品能在市场竞争中胜出；它们还能发挥关键作用，从而在个性化菜单所带来的收益和生产成本之间求得平衡。

    芭斯罗缤花了20年时间才在中国发展了两名主加盟商，建立了90多家连锁店。当然， 2009年及以后开业的连锁店占了一半。去年，它又在中国签了五家主加盟商。此外，它还计划和多家加盟商签约，后者的主要目标是在特定省份发展业务。

    芭斯罗缤表示，公司还有1,000多种口味可供中国消费者享用。新产品加上连锁店扩张（具有讽刺意味的是，该公司把这项措施称为“快乐1.0版”）也许能让这个使用粉色塑料勺子的品牌再次大行其道。中国冰激凌市场的竞争已经开始变得激烈起来，说明时机已经成熟。

    冰激凌在中国市场很受欢迎。不久前的一个雾霾天，正值周六下午，北京王府井大街上的一幕无可置疑地证明了这一点。春色乍现，吴裕泰茶馆（Wuyutai Tea Shop）的冰激凌窗口外就聚集了一群人，那里有抹茶和茉莉花茶两种口味的软冰激凌供他们挑选。

    北京的三家吴裕泰茶馆从去年开始供应软冰激凌，这些产品的实际受欢迎程度超乎想象。八喜在中国冰激凌制造行业处于主导地位，通过专卖店和超市销售产品，但它的硬冰激凌表现一直都不够理想。南方有一家叫做爱茜茜里的冰激凌连锁店，它最出名的产品是水果意大利冰激凌。

    那么芭斯罗缤在中国有机会吗？谢磊（音译）曾是北京第一家芭斯罗缤连锁店的经理。他认为，要想在中国求得发展，芭斯罗缤需要把重点放在品牌定位上。谢磊说：“芭斯罗缤的产品质量很棒，但消费者往往弄不清它是高端品牌还是低端品牌。”

    哈根达斯（Häagen-Dazs）是冰激凌界的奢侈品。它推出的产品有Cologne Light，外形仿照科隆大教堂，以卡普奇诺露松为原料；还有Madagascar Carnival，这是一块可可豆外形的冰激凌，旁边辅以一串烤菠萝。

    无可否认，芭斯罗缤也能找到一些迹象来证明自身的生命力。它的一家连锁店设在北京南城的一座购物中心，那里的顾客川流不息，很难找到座位，人人都希望独享一份冰激凌美味。米纳尔迪表示，芭斯罗缤已经调整了在华品牌，还推出了针对本地市场的菜单。也许，这次它也许能取得成功，而且甚至都不需要对过去的失误刨根问底；也许市场就是那么的成熟。米纳尔迪说：“中国市场对芭斯罗缤产品的需求确实正在增长，我们已经开始对发展策略进行升级。”（财富中文网）

    译者：Charlie

    This leads back to Lee's first rule: The master franchisee is crucial. Franchisees are a parent company's richest source of information on what will succeed in stores. They are also critical to balancing the benefits of tailored menus against production costs.

    It's taken Baskin-Robbins 20 years to get to just over 90 stores with two master franchisees. Granted, half of these stores opened in 2009 or later. Last year, the company signed on five additional master franchisees in China. And it plans to sign with multiple franchisees that will focus on growing within individual provinces.

    Baskin-Robbins says it has more than 1,000 flavors to draw from its playbook. Fresh flavors along with a store revamp that it is unironically calling "Happy 1.0" could get the brand's pink plastic spoons moving again. The timing is ripe, as ice cream competition in China is starting to heat up.

    China loves ice cream. The scene on a recent sooty Saturday afternoon in Beijing's Wangfujing thoroughfare is irrefutable testament to the fact. Amid the first signs of spring, crowds gather outside the Wuyutai Tea Shop's service window for a choice of two soft serve ice cream flavors, matcha or jasmine tea.

    Wuyutai began to offer soft serve at three stores in Beijing last year, and it's proven incredibly popular. Hard ice cream hasn't done as well for dominant domestic ice cream manufacturer Baxi, which offers its desserts in specialty stores and supermarkets. And in southern China, there's Iceason, a domestic ice cream store chain known for its fruit gelatos.

    So does Baskin-Robbins stand a chance? Xie Lei, a former manager at Baskin-Robbins's first store in Beijing, says the company will need to focus on its brand positioning if it is going to make inroads in China. "It's a great quality product, but … customers were often confused over whether it was a high-end or lower-end brand," says Xie.

    Häagen-Dazs sits on the luxurious end of the ice cream food chain. The brand offers desserts such as the "Cologne Light," a German cathedral made out of cappuccino truffles, and the "Madagascar Carnival," a dollop of ice cream etched in the shape of a cocoa bean with a side of grilled pineapple chunks.

    To be sure, Baskin-Robbins can point to a few signs of life. The vibe at one of its locations in a southern Beijing outlet mall is hopping; it's hard to find a seat, and no one is ordering a cup to share. Minardi says the company has refined its brand in China and the menu for the local market. It may not even need to get to the bottom of past belly flops to succeed this time around; the market may be just that ripe. "We are beginning to ramp up our growth strategy as demand for our product in China is really taking off."