Social Media Content Analysis: Ben & Jerry's

Mikaela A. Yeager ADPR 866 Social Media Theory in Public Relations Final Project: Social Media Content Analysis

CLIENT Ben & Jerry’s

CLIENT OVERVIEW Founded in 1978 in Burlington, VT by childhood friends Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, Ben & Jerry's Homemade Holdings Inc., trading as Ben & Jerry's, is a globally operating ice cream, frozen yogurt and sorbet manufacturing company. In every spoonful, consumers can taste the socialistic ideologies of Cohen and Greenfield, which are stated on the company’s Facebook page as follows: Ben & Jerry’s believes business has a responsibility to give back to the community. We make the best possible ice cream in the nicest way possible: 

Fresh & Extraordinary dairy. Wholly cow-created milk and cream from our farmer friends who have promised not to treat their herds with bioengineered growth hormones. All natural flavorings, exceptional extracts and amazing purees.

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Colossal chunks and exquisite nibbles, specially selected for their "oh, my!" excellence. Sensational swirls and wicked rich whorls thick enough to lose your spoon in. The passion we have for creating innovative flavors and concoctions of uncompromisingly high quality.

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What makes Ben & Jerry's Ben & Jerry's is the people dedicated to making sure every scoop of Ben & Jerry's delivers a tastebud-boggling odyssey great enough to take you all the way to the state of euphoria. Every time.

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CONTENT ANALYSIS This analysis encompasses an overview of the content posted to the Ben & Jerry’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages over a seven-day period, specifically June 28– July 4.

FACEBOOK ENGAGEMENT METRICS The Ben & Jerry’s Facebook page has 7,793,567 followers. According to the infographic below, the brand’s Facebook page attracted 1,714 new followers in the seven-day period, which is significantly fewer than the week prior. The surge of new likes the graph shows on June 26 was likely driven by Ben & Jerry’s announcement that its chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream would be renamed “I Dough, I Dough” to celebrate the legalization of same-sex marriage across the U.S. That post received 27,631 likes and 12,354 shares.

Two days later, on June 28, Ben & Jerry’s reposted the I Dough, I Dough announcement, adding that consumers could order their own commemorative pint sleeve on the Human Rights Campaign website.

Engagement metrics also show that 21,668 people were “talking about” the page.

People Talking About This is the number of unique users who have created a “story” about a page in a seven-day period. On Facebook, stories are items that display in a user’s News Feed. Users create stories when they:

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             

like a page post on the page wall like a post comment on a post share a post answer a question RSVP to a page’s event mention the page in a post tag the page in a photo check in at a place share a check-in deal like a check-in deal write a recommendation claim an offer

CONTENT DEEP-DIVE Ben & Jerry’s posted seven times in the seven-day period. Four of those posts were videos, the remaining were images, and all seven included links to the brand’s website.

Content was comprised of the following topics: 

Announcement regarding I Dough, I Dough, which linked to a full article on the “Issues We Care About” webpage on the Ben & Jerry’s website.

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Video announcing the brand’s upcoming visit to Washington D.C. to serve up free scoops of the brand’s new Save Our Swirled ice cream flavor to anyone who signs the Ben & Jerry’s Save Our Swirled petition. The post commentary also encouraged followers to Tweet the brand @benjerrystour to request a visit to their city for the Save Our Swirled campaign.

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Profile on Ben Jerry’s Primal Ice Cream Therapist and his latest flavor concoction.

The post linked to a full employee feature story on the “What’s New” page of the Ben & Jerry’s website.

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Introduction of the new Save Our Swirled flavor, created in honor of the 2015 UN Climate Summit in Paris, France where leaders from around the world will

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meet and, in the hopes of Ben & Jerry’s, produce a legally binding agreement to keep global warming in check. This post also linked to the “What’s New” webpage. 

Video announcing Ben & Jerry’s upcoming visit to Austin, Texas for the Save Our Swirled campaign.

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Video demonstrating how to make cookie cup sundaes (posted on Sunday) using Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. Full ingredients and instructions were available on the “Ice Cream Recipes” webpage of the Ben & Jerry’s website.

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Video demonstrating how to make cinnamon roll ice cream sandwiches using Ben & Jerry’s Peanut Butter Cup ice cream, which also linked to the “Ice Cream Recipes” webpage.

TWITTER ENGAGEMENT METRICS The @benandjerrys Twitter page has 291,128 followers. Since the brand joined the Twitter community in January 2009, it has Tweeted 21,245 times and has “favorite” 6,005 of its followers’ Tweets. From June 28–July 4, @benandjerrys Tweeted 13 times, received 724 ReTweets and 1,763 favorites.

On June 26 of the previous week, @benandjerrys Tweeted six times about marriage equality. In total for the day, the page generated 2,736 Re-Tweets and 4,804 favorites.

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CONTENT DEEP-DIVE Of the 13 Tweets @benandjerrys posted during the seven-day period: 

Three were related to marriage equality/LGBT rights and the rename of the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough flavor to I Dough, I Dough. Hashtags for these Tweets included #LoveIsLove, #All50, #LoveWins and #MarriageEquality and linked to two separate articles on the “What’s New” page of the Ben & Jerry’s website—one regarding the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of marriage equality, and one about the first gay couple to get married in the state of Alabama.

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One waffle ice cream sandwich recipe using Ben & Jerry’s Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream sandwich, which linked to the “Ice Cream Recipes” webpage of the Ben & Jerry’s website.

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One cookie cup sundae recipe (same as on Facebook) that linked to the “Ice Cream Recipes” webpage of the Ben & Jerry’s website.

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Three about the rivalry between Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Dough and new Late Show host Steven Colbert’s Americone Dream ice cream flavors.

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One welcoming the musical artists to the Ben & Jerry’s-sponsored “Concerts on the Green series in the company’s hometown state of Vermont.

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Two encouraging followers to make a request to @POTUS (President Obama) to sign an executive order that mandates federal contractors to disclose their political spending. The hashtags used in the Tweets was #DarkMoney.

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Two promoting legendary rock band Grateful Dead’s Fare Thee Well concert series at Soldier Field in Chicago. In 1987, Ben & Jerry’s created one of its most signature ice cream flavors—Cherry Garcia—in honor of Grateful Dead lead guitarist Jerry Garcia.

INSTAGRAM ENGAGEMENT METRICS The Ben & Jerry’s Instagram page has 1,083 posts and 522,000 followers. From June 28– July 4, the company posted nine times—six photos and three videos, shown in the screenshot below.

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CONTENT DEEP-DIVE Of the nine photos and videos Ben & Jerry’s posted to its Instagram page in the sevenday period: 

Four were related to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of marriage equality and the rename of the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough flavor to I Dough, I Dough. The first of the four posts was of two toasting champagne glasses embedded over the top of a Ben & Jerry’s Yellow Cake Batter pint lid. The following commentary accompanied the photo: 

One random photo of an ice cream

cone covered in rainbow sprinkles. No comment was included with this photo, but it may be implied that it corresponds with the photos preceding it regarding the legalization of same-sex marriage. 

One photo about the rivalry

between Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Dough and new Late Show host Steven Colbert’s Americone Dream ice cream flavors.  One video demonstrating how to make cookie cup sundaes (posted on Sunday) using Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. Full ingredients and instructions were available on the “Ice Cream Recipes” webpage of the Ben & Jerry’s website.  One video demonstrating how to make cinnamon roll ice cream sandwiches using Ben & Jerry’s Peanut Butter Cup ice cream, which also linked to the “Ice Cream Recipes” webpage.  One photo promoting legendary rock band Grateful Dead’s Fare Thee Well concert series at Soldier Field in Chicago.

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ANALYSIS & RECOMMENDATIONS Ben & Jerry’s very diplomatically infuses its brand’s influential peddler and whimsical free spirit personality into its social media strategy. If the company’s posts, Tweets, photos or videos aren’t reflecting its stance on a particular social/political/environmental/ debate or cause, they tend to be fun, playful and innovative, e.g., ice cream recipe demonstration videos and a photo of an ice cream cone covered in rainbow sprinkles.

The brand also cohesively utilizes social media for its integrated marketing communication (IMC) strategy. For example, public relations efforts such as the Save our Swirled campaign resulted in the creation of an entirely new ice cream flavor. Since the launch of the campaign, Ben & Jerry’s has both promoted the campaign tour and advertised the new flavor on its Facebook page.

The integration of Ben & Jerry’s passion for and opinions on current events and news into its social media strategy also puts the brand in an advantageous position. Lipschultz (2015) states “social media offer new opportunities for sharing events and news, and may also spread content that is capable of manipulating public opinions and behavior,” (p. 9). From June 28–July 4, Ben & Jerry’s published a combined 12 posts across its Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages that were in some way or another related to climate justice, marriage equality, and banning outside influencers from providing funds for political campaigning. This prevalent and persistent messaging is influencing how Ben & Jerry’s social media followers engage with the brand and each other, as well as

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where their opinion stands in the wake of social, political and environmental issues or concerns.

Overall, the messaging across the brand’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages is consistent without being repetitive. Matista (2013) explains why it is important for brands to cross-promote their messaging while also ensuring the copy is not verbatim from channel to channel:

If your customers and potential customers are really enthusiastic about your brand, chances are that they follow you in more than one place. That means that exactly the same thing will show up in each other their feeds all day. This does not reflect well on your brand, because it makes your communications feel disingenuous and canned. (para. 3)

Ben & Jerry’s executes this practice of non-repetitive content in most cases, such as in the rivalry between the Americone Dream and Tonight Dough ice cream flavors: INSTAGRAM

TWITTER

Along with using different images, the copy for the posts quite different yet conveys the same message. The Instagram post reads: “Colbert vs. Fallon. Which side will you take: #AmericoneDream or#TonightDough? Cast your vote here: benjerrys.co/ColbertFallon (link in profile).”

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In other cases, however, Ben & Jerry’s avoids using the same content entirely. The following chart illustrates which topics appeared on which channels: FACEBOOK SAME-SEX MARRIAGE LEGALIZATION SAVE OUR SWIRLED CAMPAIGN PRIMAL ICE CREAM THERAPIST FEATURE STORY ICE CREAM RECIPE

X

TWITTER

INSTAGRAM

X

X

X

X

X

X

X X X

TONIGHT DOUGH VS AMERICONE DREAM END OF DARK MONEY CONCERTS ON THE GREEN FARE THEE WELL GRATEFUL DEAD PROMO

X X X

X

While certain messaging can sometimes be more suitable for one social media channel over another, it is unclear as to why there is a fairly significant gap between Ben & Jerry’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram messaging over the seven-day period. According to an article published

by Hire Rabbit (2014), brands that are not consistent with how their company posts, manages, handles and designs their social media pages run the risk of alienating a substantial collection of fans and followers (para. 8).

Considering the notable deviation of content from platform to platform, I recommend that Ben & Jerry’s puts more effort into integrating its messaging to same degree the company has integrated its brand personality across the three channels. One suggestion for the posts evaluated in this case study would be to post photos and videos from the Save Our Swirled tour onto Instagram.

All in all, Ben & Jerry’s sets an exemplary tone for how brands can effectively use social media to drive awareness, engagement, loyalty and conversions. The brand positions itself more as a person or an organization, and, in many cases, as a friend to its followers

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and customers. It’s no question Ben & Jerry’s fans enjoy the functional attributes the brand provides (the ability to eat delicious ice cream), as well as the emotional attributes (feeling good about eating delicious ice cream made by a brand with similar values and a fun-loving personality).

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REFERENCES The Importance of Brand Consistency In Social Media. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://blog.hirerabbit.com/the-importance-of-brand-consistency-in-social-media/ Lipschultz, J. (2015). Social Media in Advertising and Marketing. In Social media communication: Concepts, practices, data, law and ethics. New York, NY: Routledge.

Matista, S. (2013, September 19). Be Consistent, Not Repetitive In Social Media Messages. Retrieved from http://www.pagemodo.com/blog/consistent-repetitivesocial-media-messages/ https://www.facebook.com/benandjerrysUS?fref=ts https://twitter.com/benandjerrys https://instagram.com/benandjerrys/

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