A Frozen Icon finally in A World Beyond The Freezer.
clientBaskin-Robbins / Kvella Brands
CategoryNew Product Launch / Package Design / Shopper
ScopeBrand and product strategy, package design, campaign development, point of sale, and retail activation for a category-new product format
challengeThe world's most recognizable ice cream brand was entirely confined to the frozen case — reaching consumers only when they walked through a very specific door. Liberating that equity into the shelf-stable snack bar category meant entering a space where Baskin-Robbins had zero presence and zero permission.
challengeThe world's most recognizable ice cream brand was entirely confined to the frozen case — reaching consumers only when they walked through a very specific door. Liberating that equity into the shelf-stable snack bar category meant entering a space where Baskin-Robbins had zero presence and zero permission.
What Made It BoldWe didn't try to out-healthy the health bar. We cracked the cone — building a full brand, packaging system, and retail activation strategy around a single truth: the joy of Baskin-Robbins flavors should be available anywhere, anytime, no freezer required.
Baskin-Robbins has been making people happy since 1945. For 75 years, that joy lived in one place: the scoop shop. The problem with scoop shops—or any frozen format — is you have to go to them. You're at the mercy of the freezer, the occasion, the moment.
The opportunity was enormous: a snack-obsessed culture. Shelf-stable bars dominating grocery and convenience. And the single most recognizable ice cream brand on the planet, sitting entirely within a frozen case, reaching consumers only when they walked through a very specific door.
The question dvk was asked to answer: how do you liberate a legacy brand — keep everything people love about it — and bring it to a category where it had never existed?
The flavors people love. No freezer required. No occasion necessary.
We Didn’t Enter The Category.
We Disrupted it.
SOLUTIONLeveraging high-visibility, well-known brand iconography, dvk built a strategy that leaned into two things:
The joy that the brand brings to everyday occasions;
The mind-blowing news that that joy—the Baskin-Robbins ice cream flavors people love—can now be had ANYWHERE, not just in a “scoop shop”
By doing so, we effectively “cracked the code”. Or in this case, we “cracked the cone!”
Two Truths,
One Big Idea.
Truth One: Baskin-Robbins is one of the most joyful, emotionally resonant brand equities in food. Decades of flavor memories, scoop shop nostalgia, and occasion-driven happiness — all locked inside a frozen case.
Truth Two: The snack bar category runs on portability and impulse. Consumers don't plan for a treat. They reach for one. Wherever they are, whenever they want.
The Big Idea: Those two truths don't conflict. They complete each other. The flavors people love. No freezer required. No occasion necessary. We didn't enter the snack bar category. We disrupted it.
The Strategic Insight01
Baskin-Robbins is joy. Not just ice cream — but a specific kind of joy that's tied to occasions, flavors, and memories people carry for decades. That equity is the most powerful asset in the room.
02
Joy shouldn't need a reason. The bar segment is built on portability and impulse. Consumers don't want to plan for a treat — they want to reach for one. Wherever they are.
03
This is category disruption, not category entry. Baskin-Robbins Snack Bars aren't trying to out-healthy the health bar. They're something entirely new: a treat, not a supplement. A smile, not a vitamin.
Brand Identity & PackagingIconic. Unmistakable.
Built to Win at Shelf.
The BR mark is one of the most recognizable brand identities in food. The design challenge was bridging two worlds: leveraging that decades-deep equity while creating something distinctly new — a product that lived on a shelf, not in a case.
dvk built a packaging system anchored in the brand's core iconography — the interplay of deep chocolate brown and signature pink — while introducing flavor-forward color cues and an appetite-driving product window that does the selling. The result is a package that earns brand recognition at a glance and drives reach-for-it impulse from three feet away.
Point of Sale & Retail
Winning at grocery and convenience requires more than great packaging. dvk developed a full retail activation system — from display and POS to the shipper — designed to drive trial in environments where the brand had no prior equity in the aisle. Every element was engineered to stop, engage, and convert.
Reach-For-It Impulse.
The Baskin-Robbins Snack Bar launches into grocery and convenience channels with a full campaign system built to disrupt, delight, and drive trial. The cone has been cracked. The joy has been freed.