Who did not dream about being in a place filled with chocolates as the Charlie & the chocolate factory movie or as Omer's chocolate city dream?
Brands have made your dreams come true, and three brands in particular have created an amazing, real, Chocolate World. Of course, these stores have been created for strategy purposes: Create experiences. Experiences engage customers, brands connect with them with a personable, memorable way. It involves emotions, memory and senses. They increase brand awareness, create an unforgettable experience for the customer and help increase sales (directly and indirectly). Experiences are not for buying but for creating a contact with the brand. It catches the consumers attention and the whole point is keeping their attention by engaging and involving them.
M&M’S WORLD:
To this day, there are five M&M’s World stores in the world: Las Vegas, New York City (2006), Orlando (2005), London (2011), Shangaï (2014). The first location opened on the Las Vegas Strip in 1997. Thousands of products available in stores, it includes apparel, kitchenware, bedding, jewelry, and glassware, as well as a range of exclusive products (seasonal items and specially-designed M&M'S® branded items that reflect the personalities of the cities where the stores are located). The total locations generates annual 27 million visitors.
The first European store in London represents £10m investment from parent company Mars Inc, the global food company. It is the world's largest candy store.
« London offers a global brand like M&M an ideal platform to engage with consumers in a creative and innovative environment. As a destination, London connects to both the UK audience but is also a direct and successful gateway to Europe.» Andrew Cooke, Interim CEO for London & Partner, said.
The objective for M&M’s is to create an unforgettable and fun experience where people can actually be immersed fully within that brand. « Even if they don’t spend money, even if they come in, take a bunch of pictures, have fun, and then they walk out – great! We really look at guest experience, and I think that’s a really important delineation because the experience starts before you even come into the store. If you look at the M&M’s World London store from outside you’re going to see these digital windows that are going to say, “Come inside. We have the world’s largest candy wall »
This is « retailtainment », where leading brands use their flagship stores as tourist attractions as well as shops. They create unique and memorable experiences that people tend to share on their social medias. This is advertising for the brand.
M&M’s offers a colourful experience and a « feast for the senses », the smell of chocolates, the sight of them, music, giant interactive screens that attract the eye of the customer… « Because they saw it, because they smelled the chocolate, because they had this subconscious experience, it related to a sale up the street. It’s a marketing vehicle. It’s revenue generating. » (Patrick McIntyre, Director of Global Retail at Mars).
« When M&M’s London opened, the brand ranking for M&M’s in the UK market was around 26. Today, it’s about 5. Is it all because of M&M’s World London? No, but is M&M’s World London a significant part of that ecosystem that reinforces those unforgettable moments that you can have with an M&M? Absolutely! » Patrick McIntyre, Director of Global Retail at Mars, said.
Lindt stores:
Lindt has opened a flagship shop in the Opéra neighborhood in 2013 in Paris. This is the biggest Lindt boutique outside of the company’s native Switzerland that owns 160 stores worldwide. Lindt has created modern and elegant spaces where shoppers can choose from the largest selection of Lindt chocolates existing in France. There is the chocolate bar where drinks, cakes, macarons and ice creams are served and a long wall fully covered by Lindt’s chocolate bars. In the middle of the shop, huge basins are filled with chocolate bonbons, Lindt's signature items.
Lindt also own a bigger shop in Switzerland in Kilchberg where you can take chocolate class with a Chef, create Ice creams (with, of course, Lindt chocolate), use a photobooth...
Hershey’s Chocolate World:
Hershey’s Chocolate World is the name of eight visitor centers that started in Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States. The first Hershey's Chocolate World opened in 1973 and is located off of Hersheypark Drive, in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and is in an entertainment complex that also includes Hersheypark, Hersheypark Stadium, Hersheypark Arena, Hershey Museum, and Giant Center. Hershey was the first food and confectionery company to create a food retail experience. Hershey’s Chocolate World locations around the world have seen more than 150 million visitors.
Hershey founder, Milton Hershey has founded the global confectionery Hershey Company in 1909. Hershey has approximately 21,000 employees around the world and more than 80 brands around the world that drive more than $7.4 billion in annual revenues, including such iconic brand names as Hershey’s and Reese’s.
Here are a couple of attractions you can find in Pennsylvania:
Hershey's Chocolate Tour - This ride is an original attraction, showing a simulation of the chocolate making process.
Create-Your-Own Candy Bar - Guests wear a hair-net and apron as they enter an actual manufacturing line atmosphere and will get to choose from a number of inclusion ingredients to add to their own personal chocolate bar.
Hershey Trolley Works - Added in 1988, the trolley, with singing conductors, departs for a round-trip tour of Hershey, pointing out historical and cultural observations along the way. Hershey's Great Chocolate Factory Mystery in 4D - The show is designed as an interactive experience with Hershey product characters with a reported 100+ versions of the story. This show also features the new redesigned Hershey Product Characters.
Their goal was to always create new and exciting experiences by connecting fans with what they are smelling, tasting, touching (and even hearing) when it comes to chocolate.
« One of the things that is so unique about our brand portfolio is that we have been such a part of so many families’ rituals and traditions for so long. Our Hershey’s Chocolate World attractions give us the one-of-a-kind opportunity to engage with fans, as well as test (and taste) the latest and greatest innovations. » Suzanne Jones, Vice President, The Hershey Experience
In New York City store, the Hershey team worked with scent experts to develop three different smells for the store. As you make your way through the aisles of candy and treats, you’ll be struck with a different smell, from a classic Hershey’s chocolate bar to warm caramel. Additionally, there’s a customizable chocolate bar station where you can either take a fresh photo of you and your loved ones in the store or email/text an older photo to the store. You can then print your photo on a chocolate bar and write your own message on it.
And you, which store would you like to visit or which one did you prefer (if you had the chance to visit them)? Tell us in the comments!
Cited Sources:
"M&M's World (London)" -worldchocolateguide.com. 2011-11-1
"Europe's First Ever M&M'S World Store Opens in London's Leicester Square - London & Partners" - London and Partners- 2011-07-06
« Inside M&M’s World London: how the store builds the brand » - Insider Trends - 2017-06-5