Marketing program to launch Ben & Jerry's "Imagine Whirled Peace" ice cream flavor engages consumers with social media and asks them to "Imagine Whirled Peace" ATLANTA, Aug. 4
ATLANTA, Aug. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Vitrue, social media technology provider
to Fortune 500 brands, helped Ben & Jerry's successfully enter the social
media space with two engaging and interactive marketing campaigns: "Imagine
Whirled Peace" (http://www.benjerry.com/imagine) and "30th Birthday Video
ConeTest" (http://www.benjerry.com/birthdaycontest). Both campaigns will
continue through this fall.
"Ben & Jerry's is a unique company in that it has long engaged its
customers in elevating the social issues of the time," said Reggie Bradford,
chief executive officer, Vitrue. "In our partnership with them, we've
designed a program that builds upon Ben & Jerry's current platform to raise
its online presence and capture their audience in an engaging and compelling
way."
Vitrue's "Imagine Whirled Peace" program significantly deepens engagement
levels between consumers and Ben & Jerry's by allowing them to personalize and
contribute to a social issue for which they stand. With this program, the
average time spent on the site has been several minutes as opposed to seconds
with a static banner ad. The program uses Vitrue's Mosaic technology
application that allows users to submit a pledge for world peace with a
personal image that contributes to the larger mosaic peace symbol (see right).
In the past three months more than 1,000 individuals have contributed to the
mosaic, pledging a passion for peace and over 68,000 unique visitors have
participated with the message.
"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."
Following the success of the first program, Ben & Jerry's partnered with
Vitrue again to celebrate 30 years of its ice cream. Vitrue developed the
"ConeTest" application, where consumers are asked to upload video birthday
wishes for an online contest that the public votes on. The top five finalists
will be selected to win a trip to Ben & Jerry's 30th Birthday Bash on
October 11, 2008 in Vermont. Powered by Vitrue's social media marketing
platform, the "ConeTest" is centrally managed with campaign applications found
on both the Ben and Jerry's web site as well as Facebook
(http://www.facebook.com/benjerry).
Social media is leading the shift in the way consumers experience brands.
According to a 2008 Nielsen study, 78 percent of consumers trust the opinion
of peers over all other information sources and advertising.
Vitrue, with offices in New York and Atlanta, helps global brands engage
with its customers through the power of social media. The company delivers
compelling marketing solutions that maintain brand integrity and deliver
measurable results to agencies and the Fortune 500 companies they serve.
Founded in 2006, with funding from General Catalyst Partners, Dace Ventures,
Comcast Interactive Capital and Turner Broadcasting, the company recently
acquired UGENmedia in June. Vitrue was named by Business 2.0 as one of the
"Top 25 Startups to Watch" and by TechJournal South as one of the "Top 50
Innovative Companies in the Southeast". For more company information, please
visit www.vitrue.com.
SOURCE Vitrue
