Wall’s launches Soft Republick icecream experience

Unilever-owned Wall’s has unveiled a new concept for its latest icecream brand, Soft Republick. Designed by international customer experience agency I-AM, Soft Republick is setting out to disrupt and energise the global soft ice market, with the concept ‘Where art meets icecream’. Brighton and Istanbul play host to a range of Soft Republick experiences that encourage self-expression, celebrate individuality and champion creativity, from full stores and kiosks to the coolest icecream vans.

The brand concept aims to provide a vibrant, positive force for good in unsettling times – bringing local communities together over the simple joy of ‘Messy Creativity’ in the form of the delicious artistic medium of soft icecream and unrestrained toppings.

I-AM worked with a dedicated Unilever team given license to ‘think and act like a start-up’. This collaboration developed the overall Soft Republick brand strategy from positioning, customer profiling, digital and physical communications, coming together as the complete brand experience. Initially trialed as a pop-up in London’s Spitalfields in Summer 2017, this icecream revolution is now being scaled-up across the globe.

Artists in the local markets have been recruited to decorate the stores and vans, also providing the artists with new platforms for their work.

The flagship icecream bar offers a flexible art gallery chill out and events space, there’s a curated offer at smaller kiosks based in transport hubs and high footfall areas, a mobile reinvention of the traditional icecream van and a portable plug-in icecream machine that allows flexible partnerships, with local cafes and coffee shops.

Published: 16 August 2018 on Retail Focus