Ben Jerry s Report
Megan Wright
October 28, 2014
JAMM 466
Ad Strategy Report
Vermont’s famous ice cream markers, Ben & Jerry’s, started the City Churned campaign summer of 2013; where five major cities voted in traditional and non-traditional ways to create a unique flavor that capture elements of the city. The five major cities were Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Washington DC and New York City. Ben & Jerry’s also teamed up with local favorites to make the flavor even more represent the city it is for. At the end of the summer, Ben and Jerry’s served the final product the city chose at community events. Ben & Jerry’s objective from start this campaign was of course to increase sales, but also to create a deeper connection was their consumers, Mike Hayes, Ben & Jerry’s assistant digital marketing manager, told Adweek. Another main objective of the City Churned campaign was to remind people of the social mission the company stands for and the importance of local roots. Their social mission is about keeping ingredients real (no GMO’s) and doing what is best for the planet at large. The company wanted to also focus on the importance of local roots by using products from companies local to that city. There were main three strategies that Ben & Jerry’s used in order to meet their objectives. The first strategy was having an interactive campaign. They made it so people were voting by doing everyday life activities, such as what turn gate you use when heading to train. The second strategy was taking a modern twist on crowdsourcing. They used the traditional method of having a website where people would directly vote right there, but also used new different ways to gather even more input. Ben & Jerry’s teamed up with transportation services popular to the city to count votes as well. In New York City, the cabs headed uptown counted as a vote towards peppermint, whereas a cab headed downtown was a vote Fairtrade vanilla. In Portland, they watched the men entering Cartopia and
October 28, 2014
JAMM 466
Ad Strategy Report
Vermont’s famous ice cream markers, Ben & Jerry’s, started the City Churned campaign summer of 2013; where five major cities voted in traditional and non-traditional ways to create a unique flavor that capture elements of the city. The five major cities were Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Washington DC and New York City. Ben & Jerry’s also teamed up with local favorites to make the flavor even more represent the city it is for. At the end of the summer, Ben and Jerry’s served the final product the city chose at community events. Ben & Jerry’s objective from start this campaign was of course to increase sales, but also to create a deeper connection was their consumers, Mike Hayes, Ben & Jerry’s assistant digital marketing manager, told Adweek. Another main objective of the City Churned campaign was to remind people of the social mission the company stands for and the importance of local roots. Their social mission is about keeping ingredients real (no GMO’s) and doing what is best for the planet at large. The company wanted to also focus on the importance of local roots by using products from companies local to that city. There were main three strategies that Ben & Jerry’s used in order to meet their objectives. The first strategy was having an interactive campaign. They made it so people were voting by doing everyday life activities, such as what turn gate you use when heading to train. The second strategy was taking a modern twist on crowdsourcing. They used the traditional method of having a website where people would directly vote right there, but also used new different ways to gather even more input. Ben & Jerry’s teamed up with transportation services popular to the city to count votes as well. In New York City, the cabs headed uptown counted as a vote towards peppermint, whereas a cab headed downtown was a vote Fairtrade vanilla. In Portland, they watched the men entering Cartopia and