Ben & Jerry's Marketing Project

   Ben & Jerry's

  By: Lindsey Oattes

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield have been best friends their entire lives. Their entrepreneurial spirits led them to create Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, which was founded in 1978. From Pumpkin Cheesecake to Brownie Batter Core, Ben & Jerry’s has so many delicious flavors. I took a deep dive into various social media platforms to find out the company’s success and any potential areas for improvement in the food processing industry.

                                                                      

"The chunkiest, funkiest ice cream, frozen yogurt & sorbet!"

Key Findings:

Ben & Jerry’s has a strong presence on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. I found it really interesting that Ben & Jerry’s uses their products and profits to support human rights, social and economic justice, and environmental protection. I will be analyzing all current posts from 2022. 

                                                        "Ben & Jerry's Social Mission"

Instagram:

Ben & Jerry’s most popular social media platform is Instagram. On their Instagram page, Ben & Jerry’s posts colorful, thought-provoking posts almost every single day. Ben & Jerry’s has a whopping 1.5 million followers, and 7,000 total actions per media. 79.2% of their posts are pictures, while the remaining 20.8% are videos. Looking at brand actions, 98.6% (949k) are likes, while 1.4% (13k) are comments on their posts. 

Looking at the past year, their most popular post was a picture introducing a new flavor, “Dirt Cake.” The post received 81k likes and over 1,400 comments (as confirmed by Shareablee). The caption says, “Go ahead, ruin your dinner. We won’t tell Mom. Link in bio!” I think it is a great idea that they inform viewers of the link in their bio because it draws attention to their website and interests people to learn more about their products. 

      

The second most popular Instagram post was on February 3rd, 2022. The objective of this post was to raise awareness about what is happening in Ukraine and to promote peace instead of war. Ben and Jerry’s received 62,519 likes and over 1,100 comments on this post (as confirmed by Shareablee). I believe this post received a lot of attention as it deals with politics and controversial topics.

Another popular Instagram post was on April 7th, 2022. The objective of this post was to honor Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman confirmed to the Supreme Court. To honor her, Ben and Jerry’s gave out free ice cream at their location that was closest to the Supreme Court! This is a great way to attract viewers and draw attention. Again, I believe this Instagram post caught so many viewers' attention because it deals with politics. This post received 25,541 likes and 305 comments total (as confirmed by Shareablee). Also, Instagram’s double-tap feature makes it easy to like posts and continue scrolling.

  

Twitter:

Ben and Jerry’s has a large following on Twitter with 521.9k total followers. Additionally, they’ve published 115 tweets this year (since January 2022). Their Twitter account has received 37.4k total actions and 325 total actions per Tweet. Looking at their brand actions, 13.6% (5k) are retweets while 86.4% (32k) are likes. 42.3% (105) of Tweets are link Tweets, 41.5% (103) are photo tweets, 6.9% (17) are video tweets, and 9.3% are hashtag tweets (23) (as confirmed by Shareablee). 

Looking at Ben and Jerry’s Twitter profile, you can see that the company once again supports human rights. This tweet from March 31, 2022, generated 136 retweets, 9 quote tweets, and 862 likes (as confirmed by Shareablee). Ben and Jerry’s Twitter account does not seem to be as popular as their Instagram profile, but it still attracts plenty of users. Perhaps this is because Twitter does not have a double-tap feature like Instagram.

Another popular Tweet was from April 7th, 2022. It was the same post from their Instagram page that celebrated Kentanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman to be on the Supreme Court. This tweet was very popular as it received 143 retweets, 6 quote tweets, and 1,010 likes (as confirmed by Shareablee). Again, I believe this post gained so much attention because it is political and celebrates history.

Facebook:
Looking at Ben and Jerry’s Facebook page, you will notice that the company posts pretty similar posts on each platform. So far this year, 77.8% (or 12k) of Ben and Jerry’s brand actions on Facebook are reactions, 10.3% (2k) are comments, and 11.9% (2k) are shares. Additionally, 71% (or 22) of their posts are photos, 16.1% (5) are links, and 12.9% (4) are videos. Ben and Jerry’s has 2.4M total Facebook fans, and 122.8k total unique engaged audience (as confirmed by Shareablee). 

This post from April 14th was the most popular on Facebook this year. This post draws attention to Colin Kaepernick's new children's book and Know Your Rights Camp organization. This post also links to an article to learn more about Colin Kaepernick on their website (BenJerry.com). Overall, this post received 1.4k reactions, 449 comments, and 745 shares (as confirmed by Shareablee.)

The second most popular Facebook post this year was from April 4th. Once again, Ben and Jerry’s is advertising their new “Dirt Cake” flavored ice cream, similar to their recent Instagram post above. Overall, this post received 1.5k reactions, 586 comments, and 205 shares (as confirmed by Shareablee). I know, it looks delicious!!

Conclusions: 

Conclusion & Suggestions:

Overall, Ben and Jerry’s does an excellent job attracting viewers to all of its social media platforms. My mouth is watering from looking at all of their new flavors! I found it interesting that they have a TikTok account where they post fun and engaging videos for users of all ages. However, Shareablee does not provide any data acquired from TikTok, so I decided not to discuss it in the body of my post. 

I suggest that Ben and Jerry’s engage with people more on Twitter. Twitter has the ability for users to post polls, which I believe could be a fun way for people to interact with their tweets. I’ve seen many companies post polls and they are a huge hit! 

Another suggestion I have is for Ben and Jerry’s to post more gifs on Twitter and Facebook. I did not see any recent posts with gifs, but I believe that they could make advertisements and posts more fun and eye-catching. Ben and Jerry’s should also try utilizing hashtags in their posts on all platforms because this is a great, effective way of attracting people’s attention on social media platforms.

Something that sets Ben and Jerry’s apart from its competitors is that they get involved in many activist movements and celebrate historical events. I believe this is one of the many reasons why their company is so successful and popular. Not to mention they also have 54 flavors on the shelves currently! Ben and Jerry’s also makes flavors for those with dietary restrictions, including dairy-free and frozen yogurt options. My favorite flavors are Strawberry Cheesecake and Brownie Batter Core-yum!

What flavor are you going to try next? :)