63
Repositioning an
Ice Cream Company
T
ime and competition march on relentlessly. And no com-
pany has been buffeted by these two forces more than an
ice cream company called Carvel. But first, a little history.
In 1936, a refrigeration expert named Tom Carvel was an
early pioneer in the field of soft ice cream. Being first is
important, but the trick is to exploit your “first-ness” while the
exploiting is good. You’ve got to go nationwide before your
competition can gain strength.
As it turned out, a better name for the product would have
been fresh ice cream. (As in fresh orange juice, fresh ham, etc.)
Even today, almost 60 years later, people are still ...