Increasing same-store sales for Virginia ice cream retailer by creating more moments worth craving.
Brand Research & Growth Strategy
Project Summary
Client Ask: Gelati Celesti, a beloved Virginia ice cream brand, was experiencing slowing same-store sales despite strong awareness and positive customer sentiment.
Insight: Ice cream purchases are driven by cravings, proximity, and moments worth celebrating.
Strategy: We shifted the focus from broad awareness to creating more occasions to crave, using hyper-local activations, digital loyalty, and amplified seasonal moments to increase visit frequency.
My Role: As Account Lead & Strategist, I led the research and strategy development—conducting surveys, in-store intercepts, and focus groups, synthesizing insights, and shaping the final strategic narrative and recommendations presented to the client.
The Challenge
Gelati Celesti, a locally loved Virginia ice cream brand with seven Richmond locations and three in Hampton Roads, began experiencing a decline in same-store sales growth. While not a dramatic drop, the slowdown raised concern about long-term sustainability in an increasingly competitive and convenience-driven dessert market.
The brand maintained strong equity. It ranked as the #1 dessert spot in Richmond on TripAdvisor, held 68% familiarity among surveyed consumers, and had the highest engagement rate among local competitors at 1.82%. On the surface, awareness and perception were not the issue.
The challenge was understanding why a well-loved brand was not being chosen as frequently as before.
Although the brand led in awareness and positive perception, same-store sales were losing momentum.
Core Research Objective
Identifying whether this was a perception issue, a pricing issue, a competitive issue, or a behavioral issue, and which lever would most effectively restore growth.
Methodology
To uncover the true drivers behind purchasing behavior, I helped lead a mixed-methods research effort combining surveys, in-store intercepts, and focus groups. I took the lead on many of the intercept interviews and several of the focus group conversations, speaking directly with customers to understand how, when, and why they choose to buy ice cream.
This approach allowed us to validate patterns quantitatively while uncovering the emotional and situational drivers behind the purchase moments. Hearing customers describe the spontaneous, craving-driven nature of their visits helped us connect the data to real behavior and ultimately shape a strategy grounded in how people actually experience the brand.
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We conducted a media audit across Instagram, Facebook, Yelp, Google Reviews, and TripAdvisor, analyzing customer sentiment, engagement patterns, promotional strategies, and positioning across local ice cream competitors in the Richmond region.
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We surveyed Richmond-area consumers to measure:
Frequency of ice cream purchase
Decision drivers (price, proximity, quality, social influence)
Brand familiarity and preference
Marketing channel influence
Perception of competitors
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30+ in-store intercept interviews (incentivized with one free scoop)
One-on-one virtual interviews with survey respondents
Moderated virtual focus groups exploring buying motivations, brand associations, and occasion-based consumption text goes here
Findings & Insights
The research revealed that…
Ice cream purchase behavior is largely impulsive and situational.
Strategy
Turn Gelati Celesti from an impulse purchase into
a local ritual.
Executions
Neighborhood Nights
We recommended weekly neighborhood-driven events in partnership with nearby apartment complexes to create recurring reasons to visit and strengthen the brand’s identity as a community staple.
Social Media Flavor Challenge
We launched a social media challenge inviting customers to submit their own ice cream flavor ideas, with the winning submission becoming a limited-time release to spark participation and buzz for launches.
Loyalty Program Implementation
Nearly 1/3 of respondents indicated they would be more inclined to purchase if rewards were offered. We recommended a loyalty program to incentivize repeat visits without undermining premium positioning.
Creating More Occasions to Crave
We used playful, timely social prompts—like National Opposite Day and “Treat Yourself” moments—to spark spontaneous ice cream runs and create new occasions to crave Gelati Celesti.
“What I appreciated most was how grounded their thinking was in real customer behavior. It gave us a fresh perspective on how we can keep creating moments people want to come back for.”
Outcome & Learning
Following our presentation, the client moved forward with several key recommendations, including launching a digital loyalty program and expanding seasonal promotions designed to drive repeat visits. The team also expressed strong interest in continuing community-driven activations such as Neighborhood Nights to deepen local engagement.
Since then, Gelati Celesti has continued expanding its footprint across Virginia while strengthening the local activation strategy that fuels its neighborhood-driven growth.
Team members: Sophie Reinhardt, Elise Tanenbaum, Katherine Ohlson
