What's Ahead
Social Criticisms of Marketing
Marketing's Impact on Individual Consumers
Marketing's Impact on Society as a Whole
Marketing's Impact on Other Businesses
Citizen and Public Actions to Regulate Marketing
Consumerism
Environmentalism
Public Actions to Regulate Marketing
Business Actions Toward Socially Responsible Marketing
Enlightened Marketing
Marketing Ethics
Chapter Wrap-Up
Review of Concept Connections
Key Terms
Issues for Discussion
Marketing Applications
Company Case
Comprehensive case
What's Ahead
When Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield first met in the seventh grade, they were, by their own admission, the "two slowest kids round the track." However, in 1978, after staring a life of mediocrity full in the face, the two friends decided to try something different. They took a $5 correspondence course on making ice cream, borrowed $12,000, and started their own scoop shop—Ben & Jerry's Handmade—in an abandoned gas station in Burlington, Vermont. The rest, as they say, is history. Two decades later, despite many growing pains, Ben & Jerry's has become the nation's number-two superpremium ice cream brand, with a 39 percent market share that trails only Häagen-Dazs's 43 percent share. Last year, Ben & Jerry's sold more than $209 million worth of ice cream and frozen yogurt products through supermarkets, convenience stores, and 150 Ben & Jerry's scoop shops around the country.
Why the strong appeal? For one thing, Ben & Jerry's is a master at creating innovative flavors such as Rainforest Crunch, Cherry Garcia, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Phish Food, Chunky Monkey, and Chubby Hubby. Moreover, the company has taken on the appealing, laid-back personality of its founders. "If you passed [Ben and Jerry] in the street," notes one industry observer, "with their sloppy T-shirts and portly figures. . . , you'd