bake - October 2012 - 44

cakes

Seasons of Change
As the years go in and out — and so does your production calendar — it might be time to give your bakery merchandising a little update. Just as a coat of paint can do wonders to freshen up a wall, so can new applications of some old favorites do wonders for your merchandising. This year, DecoPac rolled out its Seasons with Character program, which was designed to help bakeries create seasonal cake and cupcake displays that are not only inspiring, but that also make sense for each particular season. “Before, we had customers asking us for things like a Spider Man Christmas,” says Jamie Miller, senior marketing and licensing manager for DecoPac. “We would just end up scratching our heads trying to ﬁgure out how to pull that off, because it wasn’t a natural ﬁt. Seasons with Character is a way that we can proactively provide a solution.” Think outside the calendar box While the big holidays like Halloween and Christmas are vital to bakery merchandising, don’t be afraid to tap into smaller holidays or seasons that create opportunities for inspiration, like strawberry season and Father’s Day. By creating connections that your customers wouldn’t otherwise make on their own, you’re helping them create all new stories. “What we are trying to do is create an unexpected value-added element of fun for bakeries, displays and ultimately the consumer.”
JOA N IE SPEN CER

and complement cake and cupcake displays. For example, you can utilize Seasons with Character kits to coordinate or complement products that are traditional for speciﬁc seasons. Utilize popular characters Telling a story that will make an emotional connection with your customers relies heavily on choosing characters that are recognizable to and have meaning for your customers. For instance, Mickey and Minnie have deﬁnite staying power, and they’re a natural ﬁt for seasons like Christmas time, because they evoke nostalgia for customers, but are also popular for young boys and girls.

From Strawberry Shortcake during strawberry season, to Mickey and Minnie Halloween and Christmas, the Seasons with Character program creates themes that naturally ﬁt into seasonal merchandising and create a themed destination for your bakery. Here, Miller offers some tips on how you can utilize themed merchandising displays to make your bakery stand out from the competition. Tell a story Sure, baked goods are about ﬂavor and quality – on the surface. But what lies underneath is the relationship and the sense of connection it creates between you and your customers, or your customers and their friends and families. “It’s not just about product placement in the bakery anymore,” Miller says. “There has to be a reason behind it. When you can create these vignettes in your bakery speciﬁcally at the right time of the year with the right product, people are going to know how clever and unique your bakery is.” Fewer SKU’s, more variety With the DecoPac Seasons with Character program, bakers can utilize fewer SKUs to create a host of different products that are limited only by imagination. With season-appropriate themes and creative merchandising, you can mix, match

44 < OCT 2012 | bakemag.com

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bake - October 2012

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