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Michael Palmer, CEO of McConnell's Fine Ice Creams, is on a mission to revitalize a legacy brand without losing its cool factor.
The ice cream brand has been around since 1949, but Palmer took it over in 2012 and knew he had to tread carefully by respecting the brand's deeply loyal following while ushering McConnell's into a new era.
"One of the most successful things we did over the first three, four, five years is make the current consumer base — which was not huge but very dedicated — think we did nothing at all," Palmer tells Shawn Walchef of Cali BBQ Media.
This approach allowed the team to make vital changes without alienating McConnell's Ice Cream's fanatical following while the company transformed the scenes. One of its new approaches included collaborating for charity with fellow Santa Barbarian Katy Perry on the Baby You're a Firework Blue Raspberry ice cream.
"McConnell's was a great product, but it was older," Palmer says. "It was highly inconsistent...the freezers needed updating, the equipment needed updating, some of the recipes needed updating."
The challenge was modernizing the company's operations and product offerings while preserving the essence that made McConnell's a beloved brand for decades.
As McConnell's embarked on its 75th anniversary, the company introduced retro-inspired flavors that paid homage to the past while adding a fresh twist. This rebranding wasn't just about nostalgia but about standing out in an increasingly crowded market.
Palmer's strategic vision for McConnell's has always been simple, a philosophy he says is the brand's strength and challenge. "Simple is the hardest thing we do," he says. "We are very simple relative to ingredients...it's much harder to make products like ours with three ingredients."
This commitment to simplicity extends to the brand's minimalist packaging, which features its signature white pints adorned with notes of charcoal and red — a design that Palmer insists was deceptively difficult to achieve.
Authentic storytelling on social media
In a world of fierce competition, McConnell's Fine Ice Creams has had to rely on more than just the quality of its product to stand out. Palmer believes effective branding and storytelling are essential, particularly in a social media landscape dominated by noise.
"Social media has gotten to be about how loud you are," Palmer says, but he questions if volume is the answer. "Maybe the key is to be quieter...and just tell the story or your story better than [the competition]."
Under Palmer's leadership, McConnell's has focused on telling its story of authenticity and craftsmanship, using social media to share its unique narrative rather than compete in the volume game.
"We tell what makes our story unique and different...and then tell it again and again," Palmer says.
Looking ahead, the brand remains committed to staying true to McConnell's roots while embracing opportunities for growth, including exploring potential collaborations.
As the company continues to evolve, Palmer's vision is clear: Stay authentic, tell the story, and deliver the highest-quality ice cream possible. With these guiding principles, McConnell's Fine Ice Creams continues to thrive, proving that the simplest approach is sometimes the most powerful.
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