Cold Stone tests out new branding

So I was reading Brandnewswire, and being the ice cream lover that I am, this article about Coldstone caught my attention. The company is expanding globally into Japan and completly rejecting the use of traditional media to ellevate the brand and product as a higher class 'dessert'. The company is using things like samples at nice department stores to create buzz and generate word of mouth.

"Shunning traditional advertising, Cold Stone is giving out samples in upscale shopping areas and trying to get trendsetting young women to spread the word about its desserts. It is even snatching up posh retail space near Louis Vuitton."
http://users1.wsj.com/lmda/do/checkLogin?mg=wsj-users1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB116604025540449254.html

Can a brand like Coldstone succeed in this effort to pull the brand up? Or since it is already being introduced in Japan at a higher level would it even be moving up? By being introduced in consumers minds from the begining at a more "luxurious" level it will create a completely different frame of associations and meanings for Japanese consumers in comparison to the consumers in the US; Versus stores in the US trying to upgrade to a higher level, which would be much more difficult. Cold Stone would be grabbing a new market while creating new and potentially beneficial associations. But does the store design or names of flavors reflect this opward move? The only conflicts that may arrise are the disjointed meanings that could result between the cool stores and the old stores and traveling consumers who may feel the old stores 'bring down' the image they have created of the brand next to Louis Vuitton and not Best Buy in their minds.

-Yvette Hakim