Ben and Jerry’s is an ice cream company that was founded in 1978. Ben & Jerry’s mission statement is “to make the best possible ice cream while being socially responsible” (Ben & Jerry’s). Ben and Jerry’s marketing campaigns always revolved around their social responsibility, as well as Ben and Jerry themselves.
Ben and Jerry’s has over 20 different flavors of ice cream ( Ben and Jerry’s Flavors ). Ben and Jerry’s marketers knew that Ben and Jerry would make their company stand out from the rest. Ben & Jerry’s also believed in giving back to their community through Toms Shoes, other non-profits, and by encouraging other companies to do the same.
Ben and Jerry’s first campaign was focused on getting people excited about Ben & Jerry’s new flavored ice cream: Cherry Garcia . Ben and Jerry wanted everyone to try their newest flavored ice cream so they created a marketing strategy using celebrities such as Foo Fighters Dave Grohl, Phish ,and Matt Buschmann who all helped Ben and Jerry advertise Cherry Garcia, Ben and Jerry’s newest flavor.
Ben and Jerry decided to use celebrities because they figured it would create an image of Ben & Jerry’s being a fun company who always has the most popular ice cream flavors ( Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia ). Ben & Jerry’s is also famous for their “ben and jerry’s” chant so they used that as well in this multi-faceted marketing campaign which included a television commercial, social media marketing with the hashtag #cherrygarcia, and print marketing.
The reason Ben & Jerry chose to do a multi-faceted marketing campaign was that there were many ways to advertise at one time. For example, Ben and Jerry knew that people love their products but they wouldn’t know about Ben & Jerry’s newest flavor, Cherry Garcia unless Ben and Jerry told them. So Ben and Jerry made a commercial to show on TV during the Super Bowl in 2017. Ben and Jerry also created many ads for print marketing including billboards, magazines, newspapers, etc. Ben & Jerry knew that hashtags could gain lots of attention on social media so they started #CherryGarcia to get people especially Millennials interested in Ben & Jerry’s newest flavor.
Ben and Jerry’s next marketing campaign was not successful because Ben And Jake wanted to open stores in Mexico but couldn’t without spending millions of dollars ( Ben & jerry ). This led Ben & jerry to focus their energy elsewhere which was when they decided to make their own Ben and Jerry’s ice cream club. Ben & jerry chose to make an ice cream club because there were already Ben and Jerry’s clubs but Ben and Jerry wanted to start one on their own ( Ben and jerry’s Ice Cream Clubs )
Ben and Jerry’s latest marketing strategy is their new company: Ben & jerry’s foundation. This company focuses on creating a sense of community with everyone feeding off of each other’s positive energy. Ben & jerry’s foundation focuses on strengthening communities so Ben and jerry give back by donating all of the money they got from the sale of Phish food and concentrates on Ben and jerry’s social responsibility Ben & jerry started Ben and jerry’s foundation to make Ben And Jerry’s a company that cares about its community.
Ben & Jerry’s revenue increased by 20% from 1993-1994 which is a strong indication Ben & Jerry’s marketing strategies were effective.
In 1990 Ben and Jerry’s marketing strategy used a promotional deal to promote the use of their ice cream in restaurants, they offered free Ben & Jerrys ice cream for one year to anyone who purchased at least $40,000 worth of 100 Ben & Jerry flavors. In 1993 Ben and Jerry’s introduced a new flavor called ‘New York Super Fudge Chunk’ this was part of Ben and Jerry’s marketing strategy as it involved an extra amount of fudge pieces giving the customer more value for money.
Ben and Jerry’s has been known internationally as a company and for their ice cream that represents a friendly and relaxed atmosphere similar to the one Ben used to work in. Ben and Jerry’s marketing strategy has been adapted since Ben and Jerry’s sold the company but retains its customer orientated approach by offering healthy, organic products with an element of fun.
In 2007 Ben & Jerry’s were voted as the most environmentally progressive company in the world by The Guardian newspaper. Ben & Jerry’s introduced a new flavor called ‘Soy Milk Chocolate Fudge Brownie’ it was free from dairy products; Ben and Jerry claimed that cows need to be looked after and treated right and they didn’t want any part in that. Ben & Jerry’s set out to reduce the impact Ben & Jerry’s has on the environment by making Ben & Jerry’s more environmentally conscious.
Ben and Jerry’s donates a pint of ice cream to a non-profit organisation for each one sold, Ben and Jerry’s also uses recycled paper which is better for trees as it reduces cutting them down. Ben and Jerry’s recycle 97% of their waste water, they use potatoes grown from local farms as an ingredient in their baked goods, this saves fuel as it doesn’t have to be shipped across long distances before getting processed.
Ben & Jerry’s aim was to minimise pollution from vehicles carrying Ben & Jerry’s products around the country; they introduced new delivery vehicles that run LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) Ben & Jerry’s attempt to go green has paid off Ben & Jerry’s have reduced their waste products by over 73% since 1988. Ben & Jerry’s plan to increase their use of organic ingredients in Ben & Jerry’s products.
Ben & Jerry’s must also consider the threat of ‘frozen desert type products’. Ben and Jerry’s must always be considering ways to make the product more profitable, to protect their present consumer base. Ben & Jerry’s are well sought after for their marketing strategies which are progressive in that they involve the public in Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. Ben and Jerry believe in customer care above all else, something which I feel is reflected when reading this report.
Ben & Jerry’s have taken a different path from other companies, not only because it is an American company but also because there is no price leader or dominant competitor to watch Ben and Jerry’s attempt to break into the Japanese market. Ben & Jerry’s have a strong consumer base, Ben and Jerry’s attempt to enter the Japanese market will be a success it will probably be an excellent way for Ben and Jerry’s to gain further knowledge of Japan and its markets.
Ben and Jerry’s competition in the US is Haagen Dazs; Ben and Jerry are also face competition from ‘generic super-premium ice cream’ produced by supermarket chains. Ben & Jerry’s aim to gain superpremium status for this product. As we can see from fig 2-5 there is significant competition in Ben & Jerry’s target markets even if we take out Häagen-Dazs Ben & Jerry’s main competitor Ben and Jerry’s marketing strategies.
Ben and Jerry’s aim to maintain their position as a superpremium ice cream company, by constantly looking into new areas to expand Ben & Jerry’s marketing mix Ben and Jerry’s marketing strategy is constantly changing and expanding, Ben and Jerry’s market so successfully because of its firm grip on the marketplace.
