Original flavor, please

With the arrival of summer, it’s difficult not to notice the increase in foot traffic, even here in the busy city streets of Manhattan. In this transition between spring and summer, citizens and tourists alike wait in abundance outside frozen yogurt shops, only to increase the city’s congestion. Alongside brand leader Pinkberry, a dozen or so fro-yo copycats have emerged, like Red Mango, Yolato, Kiwiberri, Berri Good, Yogurtland, and Flurt.

From a brand perspective, the fro-yo war in this city is a tasty example of the potential pitfalls that come with copycatting. What copycats fail to realize is that mimicking the leader, not only in product offering but also in look and feel, lands you in the ‘me too’ brand category – and fast. And this leads everyone to believe that you’re only second best to the original. Without the ambition to go above and beyond best-in-class practices, and aiming instead only to match them, these other yogurt chains are neglecting to lead. Not only are brands like Red Mango declining to differentiate themselves, but they’re also up against Pinkberry’s strong cult following.

With greater attention to brand than the competition, everything about Pinkberry looks, feels, tastes, sounds and smells like Pinkberry. From the Philippe Starck chairs and Le Klint lighting fixtures to the Alessi-populated shelves and pebbled floor, Pinkberry has chosen each element of its experience – online, environment, collateral, packaging, PR and community – with brand delivery in mind. As for the mild success of Pinkberry’s copycat predators, I would argue that the business they capture is made up mostly of the spill-over from Pinkberry.

After all, if the beloved Pinkberry line is too long, most will take off across the street to Red Mango, because when all is said and done about brand, second best fro-yo tastes better than none at all.

30 June 2008, posted by Eliza Blank