There’s nothing like a cold, delicious ice cream on a hot summer day. Ice cream retailers and brands know this better than anyone. So, when summertime comes, ice cream companies are on their ‘A’ game, ready to bring the marketing. Here are some cool experiential brand marketing efforts by some of our favorite ice cream brands.
Ben & Jerry’s
For the second summer in a row, the Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Truck is coming to a city near you. The truck will be making appearances at community events, offices, retailers, and high-traffic locations—always checking into foursquare so fans in need of a frozen pick-me-up can get their fix. Even cooler, ice cream lovers can tweet requests for the truck’s next stop to @benjerrystruck – or @benjerryswest for you west coast folk – and brand ambassadors will base their schedule around these requests. So tweet away and get yourself some free Cherry Garcia!
Unilever’s Ice cream makes U happy
Do you scream for ice cream? Well, thanks to Unilever, you don’t have to scream anymore… all it takes is a smile. Welcome to the world’s first smile-activated vending machine. Rather than wasting your money or chasing an ice cream truck for your favorite frozen desserts, all you have to do is smile at the screen. The ‘smile-o-meter’ measures the power of your grin, takes a picture, and uploads it to Facebook. Then, happy consumers get to choose their treat of choice via the machines’ interactive touch screen. Currently making ice cream lovers happy in Germany, check out the Share Happy Facebook page to see if you can get happy, too!
Cadbury’s Ice Cream Floats
In the UK, ice cream trucks are heading toward endangered-species territory thanks to raging gas prices and some crazy laws—until now, that is. The HMS Flake 99, the world’s first amphibious ice cream truck, set sail on the Thames during Britain’s National Ice Cream week earlier this month. Created by the clever folks at Cadbury and complete with a loudspeaker playing your typical ice cream jingles, this is an ice-cream float at its finest. Plans to create a UK beach tour are in the works, and maybe if we’re really lucky the truck will take a wrong turn and end up on our side of the pond!
Ice Cream Altruism
Once upon a time there was a man in a van with a ton of free ice cream, who traveled the lands spreading cheer in the form of frozen treats. Almost seven years later, Matt Allen is still following his dream and bringing free treats to events and festivals all over the country! Sponsors Ben & Jerry’s and Popsicle donated 50,000 treats each to the Ice Cream Man to support his empowering mission and summer 2011 tour, which included a recent visit to Bonnaroo. While raising sales is not an objective, his goal to bring people together over ice cream is definitely being met. Follow the Ice Cream Man on twitter and like him on facebook to see if there are cool treats in your future!
Major kudos to these brands for keeping our stomachs full and our wallets fat. Have you seen any creative experiential ice cream marketing this summer? Tell us.