Forever Yogurt: How Forever Yogurt Beat the Midwest Market to the Fro-Punch

RALLE KARADJOV When first walking in, you’re greeted with a friendly smile and a few sample cups, stacked and waiting to be self-served. Different flavors face you, all of which are gluten-free, non-fat or low fat and contain live cultures. But most importantly, they’re all delicious. Building your frozen yogurt masterpiece and choosing from a variety of toppings yields not only a delectable dessert, but a fun experience as well. Welcome to Forever Yogurt, a Chicago-based gourmet frozen yogurt franchise that has been able to sustain and surpass frozen yogurt trend predictions and continue expanding on a national and global scale. With locations already expanding well through the Midwest, Forever Yogurt has been able to defy trend predictions and expand into the East Coast, such as New York and Massachusetts, as well as internationally with locations set to open up in the Middle East and Panama in the near future. Forever Yogurt’s creative director Ahmad Yilmaz claims the brand’s success comes from highlighting and bringing out each location’s unique community characteristics. “One of the things that sets us apart from other brands is we’re incorporating local design elements in whichever neighborhood we open up in,” Yilmaz said. “We do our research and that has allowed us to enter new markets and grow our customer base.” One of the first examples of the brand localizing each location is their customization of a Chicago store featuring a custom-built CTA train, allowing customers to identify and relate to the product. The brand’s ability to adapt and penetrate local markets is also highlighted in their yet-to-open Williamsburg, NY location where they have offered to save Bleeker Bob’s, a record store, from closing its doors by offering the music shop counter space within the frozen yogurt shop. “It’s our inconsistency that makes us consistent and turns out to be a signature of ours,” Yilmaz said. Another huge factor in the brand’s success is their effective and ongoing social media campaigns. The brand interacts with fans on a daily basis, including launching the ‘Forever Flavor Challenge,’ a Facebook campaign that allowed fans to rename a flavor, the winner receiving the choice of a 60” LED Screen TV or five years of free frozen yogurt. The winner, Chicago resident Blake Washer, won with his submission of Candy Cane Crush. “Each person who submitted a name would get a buy one get one free card for a cup of frozen yogurt, this was enough motivation for us. Candy Cane Crush seemed catchy enough, describing not only the crushed up candy canes but also that we’ve got a crush on Forever Yogurt,” Washer wrote on his blog. New openings also get the royal Forever Yogurt treatment with the 50/50 promotions. For every grand opening, the first 50 people in line receive free frozen yogurt for a year and the following 50 people in line receive free frozen yogurt that day. These promotions and incentives help turn fans into fanatics, something that has helped build the brand loyalty that allows Forever Yogurt to keep expanding its frozen market footprint. “We have a cult following and growing fan base because we’ve done a good job keeping up with Twitter and Facebook and running contests and campaigns to keep the conversation with our fans ongoing,” Yilmaz said. The brand has constantly been adapting to a changing marketplace by introducing new concepts such as the Forever Yogurt mobile food truck, trailers for beachfronts, and Forever Yogurt is in the works for catering Lollapalooza, a music festival held annually in Chicago. The brand’s ability to provide the highest quality of ingredients in fun and festive environments is directly due to the creative inspiration corporate receives from young and talented employees that keep up with current trends and popular culture. Having a strong creative team and a knack for adapting to the ever-changing consumer landscape, Forever Yogurt has been able to stay on top of dessert trends, and it doesn’t look like they’ll be leaving anytime soon.