Media Credit: Ben & Jerry's / iStock
Instead of creating a perception of creating just another delicious ice cream brand, Ben & Jerry's has been working to generate a positive brand perception by adding an essential ingredient to their marketing strategy.
This essential ingredient has helped it retain its market position by delivering what customers want without trying to spend to much time attempting to predict what that is.
So, what exactly is it?
The Most Important Ingredient
B&J has kept its small-town charm, from the simple ‘Arch’ logo that stands clearly on the box and the delightfully-named flavor, to ‘happy cows’ and eggs from cage-free hens. But after all, ice cream is ice cream, right?
Not so with B&J. Because it’s not just the ice cream they're making, but rather an emotional connection with its consumers. With its promise of “making the world a better place, one scoop at a time,” it has always worked hard to create an emotional connection with its consumers, aiming for strong brand loyalty.
As a company with a purpose, its commitment to social responsibility and environmental sustainability is shown through its campaigns, prioritizing issues like climate change, equality, and fair trade. Having this purpose has helped the company earn one of its greatest customer loyalty, which it largely achieves through storytelling.
One other thing that B&J works on is maintaining a solid communication with their audience, by engaging with fans is through events and promotions. They also run contests and giveaways, giving fans the opportunity to win exclusive merchandise or experiences. These events and promotions not only create excitement but also a deeper connection between the brand and its audience.
B&J actively seeks ideas on new flavors, packaging designs, and even social and environmental initiatives. By doing so, its audience has become an active part in the decision-making process. This way, the company saves time by not having to guess what its customers want.
B&J Customer-Pleasing
B&J uses its marketing campaigns to share stories of individuals and communities that have been positively impacted by its social initiatives, like in this YouTube video. This storytelling approach not only engages consumers, but also inspires them to be a part of the change. For them, B&J isn’t just a product but a full-service customer experience and, more importantly, customer loyalty.
And breaking this loyalty into its main ingredients, you get creation, communication, and education.
1. Creation
Chunky Monkey, Goodbye Yellow Brickle Road, and many other B&J ice cream names celebrate people and events. One of the best-selling ice creams, Cherry Garcia, was named for Grateful Dead singer Jerry Garcia. ‘Yes, Pecan!’
B&J is also ahead in creativity in terms of its unpredictable flavors. B&J Flavor Gurus are the mad scientists behind every flavor. They explore the newest food trends, and they’re ready to try anything. Anything goes, from potato chips to passion fruit. And there’s always a space for customers' ideas, including Cherry Garcia and Half Baked, the latter of which is a partnership with B Corps Greyston(Opens in new window) & Rhino Bakeries.
Another important ingredient is the eye-catching, playful product design. The brand uses vibrant colors and packaging that would look appealing to consumers and would change according to the name and flavor.
2. Communication
As B&J works to expand the customer experience, its strategy is thinking of the customer as an educator and an advisor. The communication between the brand and customers tends to occur as naturally as possible, listening to them and applying new ideas inspired by them.
This may partially explain why B&J has relied on consumers to build a marketing strategy by using exactly what they wanted. As B&J's current CEO, Matthew McCarthy, said that conducting too much market research can lead to mediocrity. By doing so, the company hopes to provide some sort of freedom for research and development teams to come up with new special flavours. This, says McCarthy, is key to standing out in a competitive market.
Besides consumers, B&J’s content marketing also relies on collaborating with other brands and organizations to create limited-edition flavors. This also allows them to create meaningful connections with their target audience.
These collaborations create excitement among its loyal fans and help to introduce its ice cream to new audiences. Some popular collaborations include Netflix & Chill'd in partnership with Netflix and The Tonight Dough with The Tonight Show Starring.
3. Education
B&J uses its social media to provide value and raise awareness about social and environmental issues, like this YouTube video. The company’s reasoning? Because, in the end, consumers are the ones who have the power over purchasing and making important real-life decisions.
The company has taken bold stances on controversial issues, such as marriage equality. For that, it hosted a same-sex wedding at a Scoop Shop in Washington DC in 2010. Then, in 2015, it partnered with Australians for Marriage Equality to launch Equality Calling, urging Australian citizens to contact their MP in support of marriage equality.
And its support also extends to other important issues, such as climate justice and voter turnouts.
Through its social media channels and website, B&J shares videos, graphics and blog posts to encourage customers to take actions or raise their awareness about a specific issue.
You can find a timeline marking the most important causes in which they participated in on B&J’s website.
And the Secret Ingredient Is…
Most companies invest resources in trying to attract new clients rather than please their current ones. As a result, end customers tend to feel unappreciated. and brand loyalty starts declining. But this is not the case with B&J.
B&J keeps its focus on its customers and the things that matter to them. That often includes issues such as climate change, voting rights, fair trade and fair trade. And partnerships permit the company to delight new potential customers who may not have given them a shot before, and as always, earn more buzz on social media in the process.
So, when you enjoy a scoop of Ben & Jerry's, you are not only treating yourself to a tasty treat, but you are also “making the world a better place.”
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