The Challenge

Ben & Jerry's, a company that is recognized for elevating social issues of the time, was looking for a way to further engage its loyal consumers through a user-generated medium. The company wanted a social media program that would align with the Ben & Jerry's mission of "Peace, Love and Ice Cream," fit its culture and meet its unique "Key Performance Indicators" of relationships strengthened and built. The big challenge: spark the same offline passion people experience with the brand online.



The Plan

Ben & Jerry's partnered with Vitrue, Atlanta. The social media marketer for Fortune 500 brands was tapped to design an effective and engaging social media solution. Using its Mosaic technology, Vitrue and Ben & Jerry's created a peace sign mosaic to which users could contribute pictures and text with their own vision of world peace, in celebration of the new "Imagine Whirled Peace" ice cream. The campaign is housed at www.benjerry.com/imagine.



The Results

This campaign yielded a 42-fold increase in time spent engaged on the site. Additionally, and more important to the Ben & Jerry's authentic nature, the campaign strengthened relationships with loyalists and introduced younger audiences.

"Joining forces with Vitrue gave Ben & Jerry's a cool opportunity to reach out and engage our most loyal customers as well as put the cherry on top of the sundae in reaching our fans with social media," said Katie O'Brien, Ben & Jerry's "Web Goddess." "Ben and Jerry's, a values-based company, is based on a three-part mission statement. Vitrue has provided us with a real social media solution that is helpful in sharing what makes Ben & Jerry's so special online."