Ben & Jerry's: WANNA SPOON

Credits & Description:

Advertiser: BEN & JERRY'S
Agency: SILVER + PARTNERS
Category: Best Use of Social Media
Advertising campaign: WANNA SPOON
Account Director: Erandika Weerasinghe (Silver + Partners)
Director Of Cultural Strategy: Ed Tracy (Silver + Partners)
Managing Partner: Michael Stefanski (Silver + Partners)
Head Of Digital: Paul Aaron (Silver + Partners)
Creative Director: Tommy Noonan (Silver + Partners)
Chief Creative Officer: Eric Silver (Silver + Partners)
Chief Marketing Officer: Dave Stever (Ben & Jerry's)
Senior Integrated Marketing Manager: Noelle Pirnie (Ben & Jerry's )

Execution
We focused the fully integrated launch campaign on specific cities where our fans lived and where sales of Greek yogurt were on the rise. Conventional wisdom is that trial is an essential part of this kind of new product launch – and that's especially true of the Greek Frozen Yogurts, which reliably surprised and delighted samplers with their rich, indulgent flavors. So while our 'Wanna Spoon' Facebook app allows fans to share coupons with their perfect spooning partner to encourage trial, we also had a truck tour which allowed fans to tweet the truck to bring them free samples. Additional media support included national and local print and OOH, online pre-roll video, rich media banners, and an iAd.

Effectiveness
The Greek Frozen Yogurt launch campaign is a true success story and has turned our inhibited fans into diehard brand loyalists! Within a few months of the campaign’s launch, Greek Frozen Yogurt sales have taken off, surpassing all expectations. It generated the highest trial and repeat rates of all 2012 Unilever new products. We also gained 35% new buyers and hold 70% of the market share. The Wanna Spoon app specifically generated over 35,000 Facebook Likes and had over 7,000 shares that resulted in increased engagement with the brand amongst old and new fans.

Strategy
Ben & Jerry’s fans crave the brand's indulgent, chunk-filled flavors, but they sometimes feel guilty about the richness of the ice cream to purchase them frequently. But the healthy halo of Greek yogurt is strong enough to release them from this guilt. This insight led us to believe that Greek Frozen Yogurt would appeal to many of our current reluctant fans if we emphasized the new flavors’ Greek yogurt base, invoking its inherent health perceptions, and reassured them that these new flavors will give them the full Ben & Jerry’s experience.Our objectives were largely focused on driving trial and gaining market share – we needed to shift consumers’ perceptions and gain momentum to establish Ben & Jerry’s as the leader in this new market.