NO - ROISIN DONNELLY, CORPORATE MARKETING DIRECTOR, PROCTER & GAMBLE
Innovation is our lifeblood in marketing, especially in tough economic times. To innovate successfully you need a deep understanding of your consumer; how they shop for your products in-store and use your products at home. You also need a deep understanding of their total life - their hopes and dreams, fears and concerns.
If the return of the Arctic Roll is based on deep consumer understanding, it can succeed. It may be less risky to bring back the familiar than to risk a radically new, but unfamiliar, product.
There is a big retro trend now. The Arctic Roll may respond well to this and succeed. One candidate in the recent BBC cooking show Professional Master Chef prepared a modern take on Arctic Roll. Judges Michel Roux Jr and Gregg Wallace loved it, which may bode well for the brand.
NO - RICHARD EXON, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, RKCR/Y&R
It's only unimaginative if it's the sole plank of a brand's innovation and new product development programme, which in this case it isn't.
An old favourite such as the Arctic Roll can re-engage lapsed consumers and give the brand some 'talkability'. Brands such as Birds Eye can have some fun because it is also working with current consumer trends such as provenance, healthy eating and the importance of the natural world.
The only caveat to the Arctic Roll relaunch is that this delicious, but unhealthy, frozen-log pudding may undermine the health credentials of which Birds Eye has spent a long time convincing us.
As long as the rolls are positioned as a cult nostalgia product, not part of the main range, and Birds Eye has an exciting new product programme focused firmly on the future, this is a harmless bit of fun.
NO - VANESSA COHEN, PARTNER, PROPHET
Birds Eye's Arctic Roll is the latest brand that was taken off our shelves for a good reason - its sales dropped by 50% in the late 90s - and is now being relaunched. Some might say this is a sure sign that UK marketers are lazy or that they have run out of ideas.
However, Birds Eye's decision to re-enter the frozen dessert category is nothing but good business sense and proves its marketers have their fingers on the pulse.
According to Mintel, the UK frozen-dessert market has seen the most dynamic growth of any frozen-food category in 2007. Birds Eye's marketers decided to go get a piece of that cake.
The second reason is a more societal phenomenon: nostalgia. Smart marketers have recognised that baby boomers and Generation X-ers feel sentimental about foods from the past, perhaps especially in times of economic crisis and uncertainty, and that this opens revenue streams that were long dead. As for young consumers, they jump on the bandwagon because the resurrected brands are hip and fun.
NO - MARK RAE, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR, ROUNDHOUSE
Imaginative marketing is a great thing, but there are times when consumers are more open to it.
Right now, the world portrayed by the media is a scary place and, in the case of the financial world, almost beyond our imagination. People are retreating to Mum and the brands they had when they were kids. The emotional benefits of nostalgia brands are safety, security and comfort.
Food marketers can benefit from this by bringing that nostalgia to the supermarket aisles. Coming across an old brand in-store adds a warm feeling and an uplifting surprise to your day.
Eating is one of life's simple pleasures, and rediscovering brands such as the Arctic Roll is a quick way to feel positive about the world again. Smart marketers should engage shoppers at point-of-sale and imaginatively induce positive memories of the past.
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