Chelsea 2-2014-mscsm-digital marketing-groupwork
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In addition to articulating the currently marketing and digital strategies of Ben and jerry’s , the presentation also evaluates the suitability of the activities pursued to achieve the stated mission. Also the recommendations provided are suggested in order to achieve the company’s stated mission and strategic goals.
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Chelsea 2-2014-mscsm-digital marketing-groupwork
- 1. MSc Strategic Marketing - Digital Marketing Submitted by Chelsea 2 Bellut, Maximilian; Chen, Vicky; Schmit, Charel; Sureshbabu, Swetha; Vidgren, Anni; Xue, Olivia
- 2. Table of Contents • Introduction - The Presentation is based on… 4 • Ben & Jerry’s – the ice cream company 5 • Mission and Objectives – what are we here for and why? 6 • Current marketing strategy and activities – Selling ice creams and more. 7 • Critical Review – The big questions 8 • Digital marketing – the Ben & Jerry’s way 9 – Facebook 1 0 – Twitter 1 1 – YouTube 1 2
- 3. • Recommendations and Improvements 1 8 - 2 0 • Critical Analysis – To be or Not to be 21 • Implementation Timeframe - Actions ! 2 2 • Conclusion- Finale 23 • References ( Including Images and Video) 24-30 • Appendix 1- Facebook Aggregators data 31 • Appendix 2 – Video Links 32 • Appendix 3 - Facebook Campaigns 33 • Appendix 4 – Twitter Campaigns 34 • Appendix 5 – Mobile Marketing Apps 35 • Appendix 6 Social Mention 36 Table of Contents (Contd.)
- 4. This presentation is based on…
- 5. BEN & JERRY’S – The ice cream company 1978 1981 1989 1994 2000 2003 2006 2012 2013
- 6. What are we here for and why? Make fantastic ice cream – for its own sake Manage our Company for sustainable financial growth. Use our Company in innovative ways to make the world a better place
- 7. Selling Ice creams and More
- 8. The Big questions Did it work? Did it help fulfill the strategic goals? Were the consumers involved ? Is it true to the brand ?
- 9. Digital Marketing – Ben & jerry way
- 10. Facebook
- 11. Twitter
- 12. YouTube
- 15. Launch Date Campaign Category Highlights Results N/A Mobile sites • Responsive design • Different languages • ROI:N/A Launched & upgraded in 2010 Natural app Scoop the happiness • Interactive features • Augmented reality • ranked #34 out of the thousands of free apps in less than 2 weeks (Digital Training Academy, 2013) • the world’s first natural feature tracking augmented reality mobile app (Parsons,C., 2010) Nov 2013 Oct 2012 2012 Jul 2012 Nov 2013 2014 Mobile advertising • Instagram Display Ads • iAd: Virtual Taste Test to inform through interaction • Co-op Mowingo: send targeted offers & behaviour-oriented promotional messages • Plug-in ads on Pandora & Solitaire: Flovour locator, connection with B&J social media • Content generation on Now This News, conveying social missions • collecting feedback from consumers on Jelly • ROI: N/A (Kats,R., 2012) • reached 9.8m in the US within 8 days, recall rose by 33%, 17 per cent of those noticed the ad and became aware of the new flavour (Spencer,A., 2013) • ROI: N/A • ROI: N/A • ROI: N/A • one of the best marketing practice on Jelly (Gray,K., 2013) Mobile Marketing
- 16. Mobile Marketing – Mobile site • Available in different languages in over 20 countries • Responsive design • Customer feedback loop • No flavour locator • No link to business goals
- 17. Mobile Marketing – Mobile Advertising
- 18. Improvisation is too good to leave to chance.
- 20. Improvisation – the key to success Adoption of Innovative technologies Have an integrated campaign across social media Improve Mobile Marketing efficiencies by correcting the discrepancies identified. Promote specific product ranges and Launch new product lines Mobile games, Augmented reality QR code on packaging etc..
- 21. To be or Not to Be… ✔ ✔ ✔
- 22. Action ! Adoption of Innovative technologies Immediate 2015 2015 launch and post launch End of each Quarter and Final review Q4 2015 Strategy to be continued based on Evaluation
- 23. Finale
- 25. • 360i. (2013) Ben & Jerry’s ‘City Churned’ Campaign Crowdsources Local Flavors. [Online] Available from: http://blog.360i.co.uk/360i-news/ben- jerrys-city-churned-campaign-crowdsources-local-flavors [Accessed 7th February 2014]. • Ben & Jerry's, 2014. About Us | Ben & jerry's. [Online] Available at: http://www.benjerry.com/about-us [Accessed 10 February 2014]. • Ben & Jerry's, 2014. Ben & Jerry's Facebook Page. [Online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/benjerryuk?brand_redir=1 [Accessed 10 February 2014]. • Ben & Jerry's, 2014. Our Values. [Online] Available at: http://www.benjerry.co.uk/our-values/mission-statement [Accessed 12 February 2014]. • Borison, R., 2013. Ben and Jerry’s relies on in-app mobile ads for new product push. Mobile Marketer. [online] 23 August. Available at: <http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/advertising/16018.html> [Accessed 9 February 2014] • Cameron, C. (2010) Ben & Jerry's: How a Big Brand Explores Augmented Reality. [Online] Available from: http://readwrite.com/2010/07/12/ben_jerrys_how_a_big_brand_explores_augmented_reality#awesm=~owq516Fsd3v7w7 [Accessed 7th February 2014]. • Crunchbase. (2013) Mowingo. [Online] Available from: http://www.crunchbase.com/company/mowingo [Accessed 9th February 2014]. • Digital Training Academy. (2013) UL mobile marketing case study booklet. [Online] Available from: http://marketing.24h.com.vn/wp- content/uploads/2013/10/DAP_UL_mobile_marketing_case_study_booklet.pdf [Accessed: 8th February 2014]. • Edelman Digital. (2010) Ben & Jerry’s: A Bold and Digital Reality. [Online] Available from: http://www.edelmandigital.com/2010/07/14/ben- jerry%E2%80%99s-a-bold-and-digital-reality/#sthash.8Of4xFbf.dpuf [Accessed 8th February 2014]. References
- 26. • Entrepreneur Media, Inc, 2008. Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield , Caring Captialists. [Online] Available at: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/197626 [Accessed 10 February 2014]. • Evan’s Portfolio. (2013)Ben & Jerry’s mobile app. [Online] Available from: http://rosler.carbonmade.com/projects/4524453#4 [Accessed 9th February 2014]. • Facebook, 2014. Ben & Jerry's - Likes | Facebook. [online] Available at: <https://www.facebook.com/benjerryuk/likes> [Accessed 11 February 2014] • Facebook, 2014. Ben & Jerry's | Facebook. [online] Available at: <https://www.facebook.com/benandjerrys?brandloc=DISABLE> [Accessed 11 February 2014] • Facebook, 2014. Free Cone Day 2013 | Facebook. [online] Available at: <https://www.facebook.com/events/215067998634174/> [Accessed 11 February 2014] • Google, 2014. ben and jerry's - Google Search. [online] Available at: <https://www.google.co.uk/#q=ben+and+jerry's> [Accessed 11 February 2014] • Google, 2014. ice cream - Google Search. [online] Available at: <https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?tab=ww&ei=kwn6uoz7a9gf0wwu7ygqca&ved=0cbgq154#q=ice+cream> [Accessed 11 February 2014] • Hays, C.L., 2000. Ben & Jerry's To Unilever, With Attitude. [Online] Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/13/business/ben-jerry-s-to- unilever-with-attitude.html [Accessed 12 February 2014]. • Heine, C., 2013. Instagram Ads Boost Ben & Jerry's and Levi's Brand Recall in Early Tests. Adweek. [online] 19 December. Available at: <http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/instagram-ads-boost-ben-jerrys-and-levis-brand-recall-early-tests-154603> [Accessed 9 February 2014] • Instagram, 2014. benandjerrys on Instagram. [online] Available at: <http://instagram.com/benandjerrys> [Accessed 09 February 2014] • Joseph, S., 2013. Ben & Jerry’s launches social media hub. MarketingWeek. [online] 20 May. Available at: <http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/ben-and-jerrys-launches-social-media-hub/4006722.article> [Accessed 9 February 2014] • K. Gray, L. (2014) Q&A WITH BEN & JERRY’S DIGITAL MARKETING MANAGER, MIKE HAYES, ON JELLY. [Online] Available from: http://laurenkgray.com/2014/01/23/qa-with-ben-jerrys-digital-marketing-manager/ [Accessed 9th February 2014]. References (Contd.)
- 27. • Kats,E. (2012) Ben & Jerry’s taps iAd to help deliver rich brand experience. [Online] Available from: http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/advertising/13758.html [Accessed 7th February 2014]. • Kelly, T., 2011. Ben & Jerry’s Lets You ‘Donate’ Your Extra Twitter Characters to Charity. TIME. *online+ 9 May. Available at: <http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/05/09/ben-jerrys-lets-you-donate-your-extra-twitter-characters-to-charity/> [Accessed 9 February 2014] • Kotler, P.; Armstrong, G., 2014. Principles of Marketing. 15th ed. Harlow: Pearson. • Page, A. and Katz, R. A. 2012. The Truth About Ben and Jerry’s (SSIR). [online] Available at: <http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/the_truth_about_ben_and_jerrys> [Accessed: 10 Feb 2014]. • Parsons, C. (2010) Ben & Jerry's Digital Cool. [Online] Available from: http://www.brandchannel.com/features_webwatch.asp?ww_id=492 [Accessed: 8th February 2014]. • Pinterest, 2014. Ben & Jerry's (benjerry) on Pinterest. [online] Available at: <http://www.pinterest.com/benjerry/> [Accessed 09 February 2014] • Reuben, A, 2012. Did Ben & Jerry's change Unilever? BBC News. [online] 24 May. Available at: <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18167345> [Accessed 9 February 2014] • Rosenbloom, B., 2013. Marketing Channels: A Management View.8th ed. Mason: South-Western. • Sampselle, D. 2012. Ben & Jerry’s Merger with Unilever | B Revolution Consulting, Inc.. [online] Available at: <http://www.brevolutionconsulting.com/articles/ben-and-jerrys-unilever-merger/> [Accessed: 10 Feb 2014]. • Savitz, E. (2012) 5 Reasons Why Apple's iAd Is Failing To Lure Advertisers. [Online] Available from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/ciocentral/2012/04/16/5-reasons-why-apples-iad-is-failing-to-lure-advertisers/2/ [Accessed 7th February 2014]. • Silver + Partners (2013) BEN & JERRY'S - VIRTUAL TASTE TEST iAD. [Video] Available from: http://vimeo.com/54963077 [Accessed 7th February 2014]. • SocialBakers, 2014. Ben & Jerry's | Detailed Statistics of Facebook Pages | Socialbakers. [online] Available at: < http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook- pages/196962083762082-ben-jerry-s> [Accessed 11 February 2014] References (Contd.)
- 28. • Spencer, A. (2013) Instagram Reveals Results of First Sponsored Post Campaigns. [Online] Available from: http://mobilemarketingmagazine.com/instagram-reveals-results-of-first-sponsored-post-campaigns/#1gjzwXqi37uA1A4Y.99 [Accessed 9th February 2014]. • Statcounter, 2014. Top 5 Desktop & Mobile Search Enginees from 2011 to 2014 | StatCounter Global Stats. [online] Available at: <http://gs.statcounter.com/#desktop+mobile-search_engine-ww-yearly-2011-2014-bar> [Accessed 11 February 2014] • Student Watch (2011) Retail Edge: Insights Into Your Core Consumer on Campus. [Online] Available from: http://www.nacs.org/email/html/OnCampusResearch/SPR-080-03-12_Client%20Newsletter.pdf [Accessed: 8th February 2014]. • Tode, C. (2012) Ben & Jerry’s stores integrate social, mobile to drive customer loyalty. [Online] Available from: http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/ben-jerry%E2%80%99s-stores-integrate-social-mobile-to-drive-customer-loyalty [Accessed 9th February 2014]. • Twazzup, 2014. 31 TPH - Ben & Jerry's. [online] Available at: <https://twitter.com/benandjerrys/with_replies > [Accessed 11 February 2014] • Twitter, 2014. Ben & Jerry's (benandjerrys) on Twitter. [online] Available at: < https://twitter.com/benandjerrys/with_replies > [Accessed 11 February 2014] • Unileverusa.com. 2014. Ben & Jerry's | Brands in action | USA. [online] Available at: <http://www.unileverusa.com/brands-in-action/detail/Ben--- Jerry-s/295851/> [Accessed: 11 Feb 2014]. • YouTube, 2014. BenJerrysIceCream - YouTube. [online] Available at: <http://www.youtube.com/user/BenJerrysIceCream/about > [Accessed 09 February 2014] References (Contd.)
- 29. References - Images Image • Ben & Jerry’s, 2014. Ben & Jerry's | Facebook. [image online] Available at: <https://www.facebook.com/benandjerrys?brandloc=DISABLE> [Accessed 11 February 2014] • Facebook, 2014. Ben & Jerry's - Likes | Facebook. [image online] Available at: <https://www.facebook.com/benjerryuk/likes> [Accessed 11 February 2014] • SocialBakers, 2014. Ben & Jerry's | Detailed Statistics of Facebook Pages | Socialbakers. [image online] Available at: < http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook-pages/196962083762082-ben-jerry-s> [Accessed 11 February 2014] • Ben & Jerry’s, 2014. Ben & Jerry's (benandjerrys) on Twitter. [online] Available at: < https://twitter.com/benandjerrys/with_replies > [Accessed 11 February 2014] • Ben & Jerry’s, 2014. Ben & Jerry's Truck (BenJerrysWest) on Twitter. [image online] Available at: <https://twitter.com/BenJerrysWest/with_replies > [Accessed 18 February 2014] • Twazzup, 2014. 31 TPH - Ben & Jerry's. [image online] Available at: <https://twitter.com/benandjerrys/with_replies > [Accessed 11 February 2014] • Ben & Jerry’s, 2014. benandjerrys on Instagram. [image online] Available at: <http://instagram.com/benandjerrys> [Accessed 09 February 2014] • Ben & Jerry’s, 2014. Ben & Jerry's (benjerry) on Pinterest. [image online] Available at: <http://www.pinterest.com/benjerry/> [Accessed 09 February 2014] • Statcounter, 2014. Top 5 Desktop & Mobile Search Enginees from 2011 to 2014 | StatCounter Global Stats. [image online] Available at: <http://gs.statcounter.com/#desktop+mobile-search_engine-ww-yearly-2011-2014-bar> [Accessed 11 February 2014] • Google, 2014. ben and jerry's - Google Search. [image online] Available at: <https://www.google.co.uk/#q=ben+and+jerry's> [Accessed 11 February 2014] • Google, 2014. ice cream - Google Search. [image online] Available at: <https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?tab=ww&ei=kwn6uoz7a9gf0wwu7ygqca&ved=0cbgq154#q=ice+cream> [Accessed 11 February 2014]
- 30. Video • BenJerrysIceCream, 2013. Ben & Jerry's Social Mission Timeline 2013. [video online] Available at: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M1CxLmgsv8> [Accessed 09 February 2014] • ResnDesign, 2013. Resn | Ben & Jerry's Virtual Taste Test. [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SLc447Zh8k [Accessed 12 February 2014]. References- Video
- 31. Appendix 1 : Facebook Aggregators data
- 32. Appendix 2 : Video Links • Wanna spoon : http://player.vimeo.com/video/47330911?title=0&byline=0&color=ff7b00 • Facebook campaigns and ROI : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGtyAM7k0uk • Fair tweet Campaign : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX7busQUJo0 • YouTube Social Mission : Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M1CxLmgsv8 • Instagram : Euphoria campaign : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM3Va2p3Kqw
- 33. Appendix 3 : Facebook campaigns
- 34. Appendix 4 : Twitter Campaigns
- 35. (Evan’s portfolio,2013) Appendix 5 : Mobile Marketing campaigns – Apps
- 36. 36 Appendix 6: Social Mention
Editor's Notes
- This presentation covers the above mentioned topics in detail. In addition to articulating the currently marketing and digital strategies of Ben and jerry’s , the presentation also evaluates the suitability of the activities pursued to achieve the stated mission. Also the recommendations provided are suggested in order to achieve the company’s stated mission and strategic goals.
- Ben and jerry’s was a small home made ice cream store started by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield before it grew into a large premium ice cream brand globally . It was actively involved in several environmental and social projects thereby garnering a brand image of a social and environmentally responsible brand with several positive key brand associations. In the product front, the ice creams were premium and unique flavoured when compared to other ice creams available and therefore categorised as a premium ice cream brand.Some Key milestones : 1978 – Started in Vermont.1981 – Spread throughout Vermont and slowly across United states.1989 – One of the first social issues the firm committed to – banning growth hormones from dairy products used to make the ice cream.1994 - Began spreading to Europe , with a foothold in UK.2000 - Unilever acquisitioned Ben and Jerry’s but the firm remains to have an independent board of directors and not branded alongside Unilever’s native ice cream brand.2003 – 25 Years of Ben & Jerry’s celebrated globally.2006 – Ben & Jerry’s Committed to using fair-trade Ingredients in all its products promising to become a 100% fair-trade supply user by the end of 2012, which the firm achieved successfully. 2012 – Introduced it’s new range of Greek yoghurt in a variety of flavours backed by extensive digital and traditional marketing initiatives.2013 – One of the recent social causes which Ben and Jerry’s supporting –encouraging the labeling of product based on nutrient and additive factors . For example, the ingredient labeling on ice cream packaging based on the presence of growth hormones in diary products used in production.Detailed Timeline : About us | Ben& Jerry’s (Ben & Jerry's, 2014)
- Mission – Ben and Jerry’sBen and Jerry’s mission statement highlights the company’s commitment to making the world a better place. The product, economic and social missions arelinked together aiming to provide well being to all stakeholders, by using themission statements as a guideline in the company’s decision making processes. Ben and Jerry’s product mission is “To make, distribute and sell the finest qualityall natural ice cream and euphoric concoctions with a continued commitment toincorporating wholesome, natural ingredients and promoting business practicesthat respect the Earth and the Environment.”The economic mission states the company aims to ”To operate the Companyon a sustainable financial basis of profitable growth, increasing value for ourstakeholders and expanding opportunities for development and career growthfor our employees.”According to the social mission the objective is “To operate the company in a way that actively recognizes the central role that business plays in society by initiating innovative ways to improve the quality of life locally, nationally andinternationally.”All in all, the company aims to thrive all three parts of the mission equally. However, while Ben and Jerry’s is aiming to produce a high quality product produced from natural and environmentally friendly ingredients, it also ensures Stakeholder involvement, on a human and financial level. This is summed as “linked prosperity”, which can be translated as being a company that gives back to the society.Objectives / Strategic goals – Ben and Jerry’sThe product, economic and social mission statements lead to the strategic goalsof developing high-quality products, gain economic growth and profitability, and integrating social activism in the company’s culture. To achieve this, Ben andJerry’s is focusing on high product quality with a high degree of differentiationto target a niche market of customers who appreciate premium ice cream withunusual flavours. (Page & Katz, 2012)In order to offer such a premium product, the company is concentrating onsustainability by using environmentalfriendly packaging and supporting Fair Trade certified and organic suppliers. For example, local farmers in Vermont bypaying premium prices to those who do not use growth hormones to raisetheir cows. Even though Unilever owns the brand Ben and Jerry’s, the companyis described as being a “wholly owned autonomous subsidiary of Unilever.” (Unileverusa.com, 2014). For example, it has an independent board of directors and is still contributing pre-taxprofits to charities remaining true to its social responsibility. (Ben & Jerry's, 2014)(Sampselle, 2012).To sum up, Ben and Jerry’s is integrating its three mission statements within itscorporate strategy, by striving to connect high product quality with economicsuccess and social responsibility.
- Current marketing strategies and activities: Ben and Jerry’s’ three fold Mission statement emphasises the Social and environmental commitment of the brand to follow sustainable practices and this is reflected across its marketing activities. Even its acquisition by Unilever did not dampen the brands culture and it’s continued participation in social and environmental causes.The brand is a leader in the premium ice cream market segment known for its friendly and funny named flavours as well as its sustainable initiatives. Since these initiatives were the heart of the marketing activities of the brand, the Unilever acquisition was successful only after a compulsory obligation to the Ben and Jerry’s Organisation to operate as an independent brand , from Unilever’s own Ice cream label. Therefore the brand has been consistent in its marketing activities and also grown in profitability through shared learning from Unilever corporate restructuring and systems.(Hays, 2000)In the early days, the company being a start up grew due to its product differentiation. As their reputation grew, the company returned their profits to the Vermont community in the form of supporting events and charities. Understanding the importance of internal employee morale for the success of the business, the company built a strong culture of being a fun and united organisation, which in turn reflected in their marketing activities too. Also their societal commitment gave way interesting product formulation such as “Chocolate Fudge Brownie, which contains brownies made by homeless and unemployed workers in Yonkers, New York” .(Entrepreneur Media, Inc., 2008). Such association has made the brand synonymous and more significantly accepted for it’s premium pricing.(Ben & Jerry's, 2014)Ben & Jerry’s is using the sustainable marketing approach where social responsibility stands as the core of their values and strategy, allowing them to create awareness through ‘doing good’ (Kotler & Armstrong, 2014, p.49) and even continuing this process after an acquisition by ‘Unilever’ (Ruben, 2012). Ben & Jerry’s has an extensive online and offline advertising budget, which accumulates to around 6 % of its earning. The campaigns are mostly eco-friendly ice-cream trucks that appear in various cities, handing out free ice-cream and informing customers about their sustainability projects. These campaigns are announced online and via the social networks (Rosenbloom, 2013, pp.595-596).Ben & Jerry’s mainly uses the social media platforms to spread awareness and advertise its products. The company maintains a very active Twitter and Facebook channel. A good example for the efficient use of Twitter was the 2011 ‘Ben & Jerry’s Fair Tweets Campaign’ where the company encouraged the Twitter user to donate spare characters to charity (Kelly, 2011). Ben & Jerry’s is also relying on in-app mobile advertising, what they used in 2013 to advertise a new flavour, placing ads in apps such as ‘Solitaire’ (Borison, 2013).In 2013, the company was also launching an online brand platform on their website, called “the Hub”, where users can see all social media campaigns at once without having to access every single social media platform (Joseph, 2013). Lately, Ben & Jerry’s have been successfully launching advertisement campaigns on ‘Instagram’, resulting in a 33% boost in brand recall amongst users of this social media platform (Heine, 2013). Recently, in order to mirror its support to gay marriage, Ben and Jerry introduce Apple Ever after, with its characteristic lively packaging, a well received traditional campaign and highly followed/shared digital campaign. Also it has taken it’s philanthropic activities online in order to reach more people. For example, the Ben and Jerry Foundations Online portal and the fair-trade fair tweet campaign to present its support the fair-trade Movement.A detailed break down on the various digital marketing activities can be seen in the slides thatfollow.
- Ben & Jerry’s pioneering attitude in mobile marketing is evident in all its activities. The brand dares to be the first adopter in many innovative technologies, testing and touching on various platforms to see how they can be leveraged to serve the brand. Looking beyond the surface, at the core of those many experiments, it is always the intriguing stories and interactions with fans that has enabled the brand to resonate with the audience. Extending interesting and lively brand experience has been recognized as the key point of differentiation for the brand. From the augmented reality application, to iAd and Instagram imagesreaches out to customers providing a special branded experience to connect with them .The digital marketing manager Ms.O’Brien has set up an important principle for the company that technology is just a device to carry meaningful content, and any company shouldn’t be carried away by the advantages of technology. (O’Brien.K, 2012).However it’s important to consider if all these customer centric marketing activities has in fact helped the brand to fulfil its stated mission. While most activities has helped the brand to stay on course to achieve it’s strategic goal, some activities though interactive and customer centric, are not aligned to fulfil the goals set by the firm.A critical analysis of some of the key initiatives taken by the brand are presented in the following slides.
- Social media platform is an indispensable part of integrated digital marketing strategy. Social media benefit corporates to a higher degree byincreasing touch points and targeting more audience. Ben & Jerry’s is now emphasising on social tools such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Pinterest. Apart from these social media, tools the brand has also employed, Search engine marketing and as mentioned, adopted several new technologies to remain relevant to the changing consumer platforms.
- Facebook User profile :7,258,110 likes84,775 talking about this The platform hosted several flavour ‘face-offs’, product flavour promotions and product launch promotions helping to drive awareness and adoption, positively impacting revenue growth. In addition to this, the platform also served the purpose to convey its social and environmental activism and commitment , by discussing several social and environmental issues. According to social bakers, the brand’s Facebook page is effectively gaining a lot of popularity especially among the 18-24 year olds . (Social Baker, 2014) (See appendix 1) To better engage audience, Ben & Jerry's launched a variety of campaigns on Facebook, including ‘Drilling is not the ANsWeR’ and ‘Free Cone Day’, creating a very interactive on this digital platform.The hottest post, which was about enjoying a fantastic Valentine’s Day with B&J’s on 14 Feb 2013, gained more than 8,800 likes since now, manifesting its popularity among consumers.Meanwhile, by posting the fan photo of the week, B&J’s effectively encouraged fans to interact with the brand and communicate the essence of their brand and product mission. These campaigns altogether contributed to conveying brand knowledge. Through a joint effort of online and offline campaigns and promotions, the most popular week was observedto be the beginning of 2013. (See appendix 1) (Social bakers, 2014)However, the increasing rate of fans is not promising with a drop in the last 6 months. (See appendix 1). B&J’s should integrate Facebook with other digital platforms to attract audience and encourage better adoption rates.(Ben & jerry’s, 2014)
- Twitter User Profile:Tweets: 10.9KFollowing: 66.7KFollowers: 180KAs one of the hottest social tools, Twitter helped attract more than 180k followers and released roughly 109k posts.Unlike Facebook, Twitter specifically served the purpose of sharing feelings with individual audience. Also, Twitter could be used as a real-time monitoring tool for Ben & Jerry's to consistently keep track of their audience. In a way, this platform is similar to Facebook in helping the brand to promote its products and garner product feedback. At the same time, the platform helps consumers to actively involve and support Ben & Jerry’s Social initiatives as seen in the success of the Fair tweet campaign . (See Appendix 2)While the brand is successfully operating in this platform it’s important to sustain this advantage and continue launching other online campaigns and encouraging customers to vote andshare, for instance their favourite flavours etc.. The frequency and amount of interactions between Ben & Jerry's and their audience is not very active: around 30~50 tweets mentioned B&J’s in monitored hours, suggesting that there is room for furtherimprovement on this platform. (Twitter,2014)
- YouTube User profile :265 subscribers149,895 viewsJoined on Dec 3, 2008Most popular video: 27,355 clicks (See appendix 2)Ben & Jerry’s uses YouTube mainly as a tool to express their values and mission, and at the same time promote online and offline campaigns.The campaign ‘Join Our Core’ launched in 2012 was quite a success in conveying natural and sustainable product messages, and enhancing brand esteem, when coverage and videos were shared via multiple platforms and caused quite a buzz.Meanwhile, B&J’s delivered their social mission through a series of videos focusing on their social responsibility. Therefore this platform has been effectively used for increasing brand preference and adoption, factors that will help fulfil the three fold mission.However, there is a greater scope for improvement in terms of the total number of subscribers and views (265 and 14,985 respectively) . The potential of this platform can be effectively explored for several more opportunities. For instance, videos should be enabled to be shared through Twitter and Facebook.
- Pinterest and Instagram :These are both popular social network sharing tools that allowed Ben & Jerry’s to share pictures of theirproducts, their social initiatives and encourage customers also to share several moments and pictures resonating with the Ben & jerry’s brand. It created a community feel which forms the core of the Brand’s image. One of it’s successful campaigns was Ben & Jerry’s Euphoria (See Appendix 2) . B&J’s successfully caught people’s attention on Instagram with every post achieving more than 10,000 likes and hundreds of comments. While the total number of posts was similar over these two platforms, the audience on Pinterest were rather smaller in number and quieter in creating a buzz. On the bright side, these two social streaming platforms, especially Instagram, significantly promoted their brand image and appealed consumers through an engaging and community like interface. At the same time, it offered information on various flavours and product range .However, it’s observed that there is a difficulty to evaluate the direct link between sales and promotion via this media. While it can be argued that the media tools serve the purpose of promoting the brand image and improving customer interaction, It’s essential to create a more well defined relationship between revenue and Promotion in these platforms.(Pinterest, 2014) & (Instagram , 2014)
- Search Engine Marketing:Search engine marketing could actually affect people’s preference, not only whilechoosing between competitors, but also while influencing purchase decisions.Statistics showed that in the past three years more than 90% of desktop and mobile users worldwide were using Google as their search engines (StatCounter, 2014). Since users are focused on a few top ranked results, it is of great importance to evaluate and enhance Ben & Jerry’s performance on SEO on Google platform.Ben & Jerry’s performance on organic searches is quite impressive. When users typed in ‘Ben & Jerry’s’, organic search would show linkages to their official websites, popular social media and related news coverage. Much emphasis was on flavours and offline campaigns, e.g., the official website of ‘Join Our Core’ campaign.Also, when searching for ‘ice cream’, main entrance to B&J’s official website was shown on 8th rank, and no competitor brands ranked higher than B&J’s. Customers would be encouraged to click owing to its clear description. B&J’s has also simplified the URLs efficiently for user ease. By typing the brand name after different social media URLs, users can easily reach the Ben & Jerry’s webpage.Search engine Marketing strategy used by Ben and Jerry’s is one that set’s an example for the industry. Although B&J’s appeared on the first result page, the rank was not high enough to secure users’ visibility indicating room for further improvement. This shows that the association that a brand creates, can help optimise it’s search results efficiently. Appendix 6 gives an overview on how Ben & Jerry’s is Synonymous with the consumers online showing a greater preference and ‘mention’ in comparison to it’s major competitor Hagen Daz.
- Mobile Marketing :Ben & Jerry’s has anextensive presence on mobile platforms such as dedicated mobile sites, branded natural apps, mobile advertising. The well-known ice-cream brand is a fast-mover in terms of continuously exploring the potential of emerging opportunities, such as iAD, building partnership with mobile app start-ups like Jelly and This News Now, or experimenting social-mobile commerce. The overall mobile marketing strategy is quite bold and progressive. In spite of some technology loopholes, it can be summarized that the current mobile strategy mainly serves for the purpose of expanding brand presence on mobile and enriching customers’ brand experience (Parsons,C., 2010). Considering the brand’s active presence on mobile, the urgency to establish key performance metrics holds great significance to the future development of the brand. Also, how the brand takes best advantage of its mobile visibility to fulfil its three fold mission statement is questionable considering the current content. It’s observed that the mobile marketing ,is mostly promotion focussed with little emphasis on it’s social initiative. This is seen in the following slides which summarises its efforts in the mobile marketing front . Also see appendix 5 for a list all Ben & Jerry’s mobile apps being promotional content-based with little or no emphasis on the brand’s social initiatives.
- Mobile Website :Ben & Jerry’s has tailored its mobile site designto answer to specific needs of mobile browsers. The mobile site is available in different languages in over 20 countries, and its core function streamlined down to five options , letting users to access the entire flavour catalogue, find store locations, watch videos and read the company’s Mission Statement. All the elements are tailored to suit the mobile screen display. This effectively shortens the loading time and is adjusted to suit browser’s navigation trends. In addition, it has developed a customer feedback loop, where customers are allowed to sign up for newsletter, send a shop praise/concern or suggesting a flavour and so on. Over-all, the whole browsing journey is quite enjoyable – fun cartoon characters, vibrant colours – reflecting the brand image.However, it is questionable whether the mobile site helps to achieve the business objectives. On the UK mobile site, customers cannot locate the nearest store to visit when they crave for Ben & jerry’s ice cream and also the catalogue is not comprehensive enough with detailed product descriptions. One available option for potential customers is to switch to the desktop website via an embed link. However, it takes more time to load the website, increasing the possibility of switching while waiting. This leads to confusion and makes us raise some important questions:What was the original intention of building such a mobile site ? (Is it only to act as an interim or a final purchase channel?), What function does a mobile site play during the customer journey? (stimulate purchase intent or influence his decision-making?),This issue will remain unsolved unless the company is clear about the primary objectives of building a mobile site. Considering ice-cream to be the sixth most popular ready-to-eat snack foods with students and at times being a necessity (Student Watch, 2011), it should be beneficial to find new ways to increase efficiency.
- Mobile advertising · Mobile app advertising – Instagram, iAd, Mowingo· Content co-creation with NowthisnewsBen & Jerry’s has always been an early-adopter in experimenting new mobile advertising forms. The latest initiative took off with four sponsored images featuring ice-cream in a carton, in a cone and in the clouds were shown on Instagram. The catchy ad copy and images drove tremendous attention. Instagram reported a 17% hike in awareness of the new flavour, a 32-point incremental lift in ad recall and 20% lift in brand followers. (Sloane,G., 2013)(Benandjerrys Instagram ,2013) Iads :In 2012, Ben & Jerry’s launched its first iAd banner ad to promote the new Greek frozen yogurt. When users tap on the ad, they are encouraged to take the Virtual Taste Test where they can first take a photo of their face, select a “wacky” hand-illustrated mouth and then try all four new flavours virtually through their iPhone device. The mouth responds with some squeaky dubbing voice and synced animation each time after you throw an ice-cream ball into your mouth. The effects were quite entertaining. (Google Think Insights,2012.) Sticking to itsmarketing mission, the company views this campaign as a test to see how the iAd performs for the company. The objective was to deliver a rich experience that drive trial and awareness for the new product. (O’Brien, K.,2012). However, challenges towards the key performance metrics of iADs have occurred while review the effectiveness of the campaign. Researches have shown that high click through rates doesn’t necessarily translate into higher interest from the consumers. (Savitz,E., 2012) The advertisers are gambling on iAds before seeing ‘actual’ results. (ResnDesign, 2013)It is not the first time that Ben & Jerry’s has adopted some just emerging mobile marketing platforms and technologies of which the results have not been completely proved. For example, its partnered with the first mobile news start-up Now This News aiming to create a short video series that emphasizes the brand’s devotion to Fair Trade. (360i, 2013) The app so far has no ratings on iTunes, and only 736 subscribers on its YouTube channel. Ben & Jerry’s video “Why Fair Trade Matters” only has 56,730 views. It is the highest among its category, However, Ben & Jerry’s has the highest views of 5,308,589 recorded in its earlier video campaigns. The other example is the brand’s social-mobile synergy practice on Mowingo, a mobile application which can push out behaviour-based notifications to the users. If a customer has shown his preference to one particular flavour, Ben & Jerry’s will send a tailored coupon for that customer. In the summer 2012, Ben & Jerry’s retail locations in Oregon started this integration, hoping to generate more traffic to physical stores. It also gets assistance from monitoring which offers are being redeemed in the mobile app so as to decide on what the next Facebook campaign should be. (Crunchbase,2012). While some think this platform shows how brands can connect with loyal customers by being specific to their needs and preferences, others argue it may risk annoying potential customers. (Tode,C., 2012)
- As seen , social media has proven to be a fairly successful platform for Ben & Jerry’s. However, in it’s enthusiasm to adopt new technologies to remain relevant ,the brand is failing to align its marketing initiatives to fulfill its well defined objectives. This was evidently seen in the slides describing the brands efforts on the mobile platform. Apart from these initiatives, the brand can also make use of other digital technologies to improve user experience and achieve its strategic objectives through effective planning. In the next few slides, the recommended course of action is illustrated with the help of a suggested marketing campaign. From this illustration it’s easier to understand the kind of improvements that Ben & jerry’s could integrate in its current digital marketing platforms and also the application of other technological innovations to fulfill the brand’s objectives.
- As explained earlier, while the mobile and digital strategy of Ben and Jerry’s is efficient, there is definitely scope for improvement; especially with respect to achieving the well defined strategic goals.This would be done by highlighting one supplier/producer per year and building an annual marketing strategy around them. This would emphasize the 'good' the brand is doing with a potential for several interesting sub-campaigns. The yearly strategy would be built around Four major activities:Adoption of Innovative technologies to interactively engage customers in the social mission.Introducing and Promoting flavours inspired by the supplier of the year.Improving and integrating Social media,Website & mobile platforms by designing the yearly marketing campaign around the initiative.A good performance metrics should be developed , to check if the activities help in meeting the firm’s objectives.This yearly campaign will support Ben and Jerry’s current marketing activities, and also fulfill the company’s three part mission statement (as explained in the following slides). The suggested campaign emphasize on the company’s social and environmental commitment and helps improve the content and online marketing experience.
- Improving and Integrating Digital Platforms :Its important to have a consistent campaign across all social media platforms. Thisw ay the brand can ensure consistent messaging across all media. Also this would help in creating brand awareness and encourage adoption, thereby positively impacting sales growth. This integration should be implemented along with improvement in content in order to appeal to users and encourage higher rate of customer interaction and better SEO.As mentioned in the previous slides, the discrepancies identified in the critical analysis should be improved . For-example , the discrepancies associated with mobile marketing with respect to eliminating the inability to locate stores on the app by integrating it with GPS, endorsement of social initiatives in the apps etc. should be improved in order to sustain the competitive advantage of being a synonymous premium ice cream brand.Also thebrand should consider integrating mobile purchase features on the mobile site, so as to avoid loss of traffic on this platform.Specific Flavour Promotion and Production :By choosing a supplier of the year , based on the ingredient associated with the specific supplier, Ben & Jerry’s can promote associated product lines. This can be done by using both social media and other innovative media. This way a specific product line can be revitalised and promoted by emphasising it’s social value, in turn gaining economic value for the firm.Also Ben & Jerry’s can also launch new product range based on the supplier of the year thereby widening it’s product range and also boost sales through combined promotional activities. There is always scope for interesting content for promoting products associated with a social cause , example the promotions of’ Appely ever after’ based on the cause of equal marriage rights. This would be another chance for Ben & Jerry’s to repeat the successful outcome , only this time while implementing a 360 degree integrated marketing strategy.Adoption of Innovative technologies: While Ben & Jerry’s has always experimented with several new technologies, It’s important that it chooses technologies that are focussed in fulfilling the objective efficiently. In this case, it can adopt the following technologies to efficiently promote the “Ben & Jerry’s Supplier of the year.” A MobileEducational game - Parts of the game associated with ‘extra lives’ and other elements can be monetized by integrating it with codes printed inside the Stellar supplier’s Ben & Jerry ice cream product range.Also 3D Printing of the famous Ben & Jerry’s shovel shaped ice-cream spoon should be allowed on its website by integrating it with the Mobile game and can be unlocked only at a specific level.Packaging innovation using augmented reality and QR coding to give the consumers a virtual feel of what are the products sourced to make the ice cream. It can also show customers how the ice cream actually looks like, denoting the various ingredients coming from different farmers, and highlight the stellar ingredient from the ‘Ben & Jerry’s supplier of the year’Develop & Evaluate with Performance metrics:This is discussed in detail in the next slide
- Performance MetricsThe performance metrics to be developed should evaluate the marketing strategy and the specific activities based on it’s effectiveness in fulfilling the Product, economic and social missions.The suggested campaign can be evaluated against these metrics as follows:Product Mission:Highlighting the supplier/producer of the year enhances the idea of using quality ingredients, which further supports the idea of having a quality product. Also production of a new product range will help in widening our offering. Promoting a specific product made by using the chosen supplier, can also help in revitalizing a declining product. Economic Mission :Using social media and other innovating marketing media to promote the new campaign will enable Ben & Jerry’s to increase brand awareness and adoption. These technologies will therefore help in converting the leads created into actual sales. For example, the game to be designed for promoting the supplier of the year can be freely downloaded. However, consumers can gain extra lives/play the game faster by purchasing more ice cream. This therefore, supports the financial mission Social Mission:An entire campaign designed around a social initiative : ’To support a supplier and therefore draw attention to the fair-trade movements and other green practices’, directly translates Ben & jerry’s commitment to the environment and its sustainable ways of production. Therefore this helps in realizing the brand’s social mission.Therefore this campaign , will effectively use focused and integrated digital marketing tools/activities to garner positive outcome by realizing the mission of the company, efficiently.
- The campaign is to be rolled out annually, with the first campaign to be test in the 2015.Phase 1 :Improving and Integrating Digital Platforms : This should be effective immediately during the pre-launch phase, getting customers accustomed to the integrated platform. Also its important that the discrepancies are eliminated and improvements are made to the interface to gain favourability of consumers . This will encourage them to use the improved platform increasingly.Phase 2: Specific Flavour Promotion and Production :The Product to be launched and/or the product range to be promoted should be chosen and promoted within Q1 in 2015. This way, Ben & Jerry’s can study the effectiveness of the campaign end of year to understand the annual performance of the strategy pursued. Also promoting the product in Q1, will give enough time for the campaign to mature and become synonymous with customers and minor changes can be implemented based on evaluation using the performance metric at each quarter.Phase 3 : Improving and Integrating Digital Platforms : This is a continuous process. The brand needs to continue improving its efficiencies in the established platforms and use the same to set the premise for the campaign launch. During the launch period, it needs to effectively engage customers with the new messaging and capture their interest with interactive content and activities , integrated across platforms. From these interactions, Ben & Jerry’s can assess the reception of the messaging and opportunities to further enhance the promotion through the adoption of innovative marketing media.Adoption of Innovative technologies: Based on the reception of the campaign, Ben & Jerry’s can look at investing in innovative media to promote the specific product range. Even this technological innovation and its marketing productivity needs to be evaluated using the metrics.Phase 4: Evaluate Performance metrics:With the defined performance metrics, based on the 3 fold mission statement, each of the activities must be evaluated in each quarter of 2015 to assess the performance of the activities. Based on these insights, changes can be made and improvements can be implemented to correct discrepancies quickly and efficiently. A final review conducted at the end of the year , will assess the success of the campaign , which therefore can be repeated with a different supplier the next year.
- This presentation elaborated the past, present and future of Ben & Jerry’s, one of the most successful and synonymous brand today. While the values and missions of the firm were elaborated , the critical analysis of the firm’s marketing activities has given insights and showed there is a great scope for improvement. As suggested, the illustrated campaign with the four fold strategy , will enable the brand to efficiently fulfill its three fold mission. The strategy is designed , keeping in mind the discrepancies identified and also the technological opportunities that are available for the brand to better its marketing activities. Also the implementation is closely evaluated by using performance metrics based on the firm’s mission. Therefore the recommendations are made keeping in mind the primary objective of linking Ben and Jerry’s marketing activities to its well defined mission statement.
- From this data, Its evident that the Facebook page is growing in popularity . However, the rate of growth has slowed down in the last six months with high fluctuation depending on the launch of inconsistent campaigns. (Social Bakers , 2014)
- Some of the famous campaigns on Facebook :Left: Valentine’s special post, the hottestRight: the campaign #freeconeday
- Some of ben & Jerry’s Twitter campaigns are described below:Twitter significantly contributed to pushing the #OMGfreebenjerrys campaign, which was launched in 2013.The major platform was based on @BenJerrysTruck: pictures and news were posted frequently.Also a specific twitter account was set up for this campaign in America Westand East Coast , @BenJerrysWest.By tweeting at@BenJerrysTruck with the hashtag #OMGfreebenjerrys, people could easily get a scoop of sample for free.@BenJerryTruck is the main channel to combine offline promotions and online campaigns together. By sharing the life on the road and stories with B&J, the brand could realize their objectives to interact consistently with customers.These accounts altogether created a friendly brand image to the general public, and differentiated B&J from their competitors.Pic on left side: schedule for #Omgfreebenjerrys campaign in 2013On right side: two major accounts to promote this campaign(Twitter, 2014)
- Key features:Store locatorEvents calendarShare with social networksGame Augmented realityAchievements: Delivered a fun and unique brand experienceExpand B&J’s influenceLink business to Ben & Jerry’s social missionThe iPhone mobile application Scoop of Happiness is an ever-growing application. Scoop of Happiness was first designed with a specific goal to bring the brand’s time-honoured Free Cone Day event to life. Users have fun access to Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shops, the entire flavours category, also other interactive contents, such as inviting friends to meet you at a Scoop Shop, playing with a Mystic Moo cow who makes flavour recommendations based on your mood. The app had successfully hit 180,000 downloads within four weeks, making it to #34 out of over 150,000 competition. (Digital Training Academy, 2013)An evolution followed soon after. In late 2010, the iPhone app was reintroduced to incorporate a 3D augmented reality feature called Moo Vision when launching the campaign "It's what's inside that counts” to highlight the company’s support for small family farms. Taking a picture of the lid on a pint, the mobile will instantly unlock 3D dioramas that are related to the flavour you are scanning. A social media sharing function was also available in the app. (Parsons,C., 2010) By unlocking all the four flavours, customers will get some special background images.
- Insights from Social Mention:Social Mention analytics have proved a higher social engagement for Ben&Jerry's: The brand is being mentioned every one minute on soical media. (v.s. 4 min) and it is 15% more likely to be mentioned in the close future. (25% v.s. 10%) The audience have shown a higher passion towards Ben&Jerry's than towards Haggen-Dazs (12% v.s. 10%).Ben & Jerry's has been able to reach a significantly wider range of audience (44% v.s. 20%).