The Marketing Store planning and strategy director Wendy Lanchin, discusses whether it is a good idea for FMCG brands to become retailers, as part of the Marketing Society Forum, in this weeks edition of Marketing Magazine.
She believes 'product brands have made the leap to retailing, with varied success. Haagen-Daazs, for example opened a string of ice-cream parlours across London, reduced to a single store in Leicester Square.
The trick seems to work well from retailer to product - PizzaExpress and Nando's now have successful grocery lines - but rarely the other way round.
Those that do succeed seem to have an exciting 'experiential dimension built into their DNA. For mass-market brands, retail is often a hybrid activity. Marmite's successful pop-up shop was more like a promotional venture than a long-term retail proposition.
Chocolate is a sector where product and retail have been inextricably linked, at least at the luxury end of the market. Brands like Thorntons and Godiva have always existed as both stores and standalone products.
So Cadbury’s has a strong precedent to build on, but it needs to ensure that its proposed 'coca houses provide a rich experience and not simply another distribution channel.'