BEN & JERRYS: VOTING RIGHTS AND ICE CREAM PINTS

Climate Justice, Marriage Equality, LGBTQ+ Rights, Racial Justice, Voting Rights, Campaign Finance Reform… oh and selling ice cream!

Above, is a list of just some of the things Ben & Jerry’s care about.

It’s a company that is known for not just its great tasting ice cream, but also what it stands for.

Ben & Jerry’s isn’t just changing the ice cream game with its tantalising tastes. It’s changing the whole world…through ice cream.

Not to mention the fact they have a whole lot of fun while doing it.

To go with all the hard-hitting campaigning Ben & Jerry’s push, they are also very well known for their absurd - but hilarious - ice cream flavour names, to give you an idea, so far they’ve made:

• Bohemian Rasberry - Named after the song “Bohemian Rhapsody”

• Schweddy Balls - Not too much explaining needed

• The Tonight Dough - Named after “The Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon

• Cherry Garcia - Named after the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia

• Magic Brownies - The packaging read “Dave Mathews bands’ Magic Brownies”

Yes, these are all real flavours!

Ben & Jerry’s even has a “Flavour Graveyard” on their website where they - and I quote - “Pay tribute to the dearly de-pinted”.

It’s one of the most unique companies and approaches to marketing I’ve ever covered in Growing Viral, so let’s break it down.

Breaking Down The Strategy

A big buzzword that gets thrown around the internet nowadays is “authenticity”. It’s something there was a lack of online and in the business world for a prolonged amount of time. But now it is one thing everyone seems to seek from the brands they buy and the content they consume.

Authentic is also the perfect way to describe Ben & Jerry’s as a brand and other than their awesome tasting ice cream; it’s probably a leading factor of their success.

Ben & Jerry’s marketing unsurprisingly revolves around this theme of authenticity and being true to themselves. Let’s take a look at the different ways they do this:

Not Afraid To Voice Their Opinion

It is very rare in the modern age of business for companies to come out and express their opinions on controversial topics.

Ben & Jerry’s on the other hand, do exactly that - and it’s a regular occurrence. Whether it’s openly posting about their opinions on social media, or literally creating a flavour supporting a politician; Ben & Jerry’s are not afraid to stand up for their beliefs.

As you can see from the tweet above, they are very open with their opinions on controversial topics. This is virtually completely unseen in the business world today, with businesses so scared of being “cancelled”. However, this authentic expression of their opinion has had a hugely positive effect on Ben & Jerry’s with people garnering a huge amount of respect for the company for doing so - their opinions also fall very much in line with the younger generations, which is also a great benefit to them.

They are very open about their political viewpoints and were more than happy to express their ill feelings on Donald Trump during his time as President. They even released a flavour called ‘Pecan Resist’ which has the following description on their website “This pint is a rebel of the highest order. It had a powerful message about resisting the Trump administration’s regressive and discriminatory policies.” (Source)

The way Ben & Jerry’s is authentic to themselves and so open about what they stand for has been a huge hit for the company. It is such a unique and refreshing take on marketing and branding compared to the other big corporate brands which release nothing but scripted, unoriginal garbage!

Posting Like a Human Being

On social media today, you see the majority of company’s posting images that are clearly professional taken and some very informal copy to go with it. Ben & Jerry’s are the complete opposite to this. Instead, their posts are light-hearted and “down with the kids” - a huge contrast to competing brands.

Little tweet replies like the one above have a huge effect on the audience and really helps to deepen their connection with the consumer. You won’t catch many brands active enough on Twitter to have a little back and forth with a customer!

This is without mentioning how up to date they keep with current events, allowing them to continuously post tweets that are actually relatable to their followers. Check out this La Casa De Papel quote below! Just another way Ben & Jerry’s keeps that informal relationship with their consumers.

Stick True To Their Traditions

As much as the big conglomerates dominate the market nowadays, there is still something special about a local store. Ben & Jerry’s started as just that and have done a great job of maintaining that local-business charm.

One method they take to do this - and a personal favourite of mine - is maintaining traditions they had from day one.

One of which is their “Free Cone Day”. It’s fairly self-explanatory and Ben & Jerrys believe it’s a great way to show their appreciation for customers and “bring the world together in peace, love and ice cream”. It’s a tradition Ben & Jerry’s have maintained for over 30 years, serving over 1 million free scoops in over 30 countries last year.

What an awesome way to bring everyone together and maintain that local ice cream shop feel!

A Pick Me Up

Let’s be honest, when the majority of people go to buy a tub of ice cream, it’s probably not been the best day of their lives. It’s a comfort snack, it’s a pick me up after a long hard week.

For most people, Ben & Jerry’s is that comfort snack.

Why?

Well, the whole “experience” of Ben & Jerry’s is a pick me up. You look at the packaging and its bright and bubbly colours. You look at the flavours and you see the double entendres like “Half Baked”. This is without even mentioning the effort they go through with social responsibility; making their ice cream with: milk from “happy cows”, eggs from cage-free hens, fair trade ingredients, no GMOs’s and brownies are from a bakery committed to providing jobs for the hard-to-employ.

The Lesson

Ben and Jerry’s approach to marketing and branding is absolutely littered with lessons. None more prominent than to be true to yourself as a business.

Authenticity is the biggest differentiator between Ben & Jerry’s and its soulless competitors.

They’ve shown that when you allow your business to embody its true self and its true “personality” then people will stand behind you and your business. Authenticity is something that’s been hugely lacking in not just marketing, but in society as a whole.

My two cents? Over the next 5-10 years many brands will emerge with a very similar authentic outlook on marketing and branding and many businesses will follow in the footsteps of Ben & Jerry’s.

How You Can Implement It

Usually, it takes me a prolonged period of time to give advice on how to correctly implement a strategy. However, in this case, it is simple. It’s time to start giving your business a personality and not be afraid to express your viewpoints and the values your business stands behind.

I’m not saying sporadically flood your followers feeds with posts on who should be the next President. What I am saying is don’t be afraid when an incident or a tragedy such as the one which occurred earlier this year with racial injustice, to give your two cents on the event to your audience. Express your values and show your audience you stand behind them.

Being a bystander is no longer accepted. It’s time to talk up.

This has been a breakdown of Ben & Jerry’s marketing strategy. I hope you have learned something and can implement a similar strategy into your business!

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I’ll see you next Sunday!