Ben & Jerry's is known as much for the passion of its fans as it is for its creative ice cream concoctions and progressive values. Social media has provided Ben & Jerry's a platform to personally engage with their passionate fans, giving ice cream lovers new ways to connect with the company. Instagram, while only two years old, has already proven to be a popular platform for lovers of Ben & Jerry's. The company has over 120,000 Instagram followers who now "like" its photos almost 5000 times per day, making for over 1 million photo "likes" in total. It is fan engagement like this that inspired Ben & Jerry's to launch a new global program this week called Capture Euphoria. The program turns the attention onto the fans' own photos so that Ben & Jerry's can return some of their love in a way that is both very individual and also very public.
When Ben and Jerry first started making ice cream almost 35 years ago, they chose the word “euphoric” to best describe their fans’ experience. So, it makes perfect sense that the ice cream maker will ask fans to tag their photos with“#captureeuphoria” in this contest. These photos will then be featured in ads as a way to thank the photographer for being part of the company’s Instagram community. The ads will run in the photographer-fans’ local neighborhoods, celebrating them – and their online photos – within their own off-line communities.
To mark the program's official kick-off, Ben & Jerry's has already selected its first Capture Euphoria fan photos. The winners’ reactions to seeing their photos as Ben & Jerry’s ads were filmed, and can be seen here. Approximately 20 fans between the months of November and January will also have their photos on display as “thank you” ads. The Capture Euphoria program is running in countries around the world.
"Our company has one of the most active and dedicated fan bases out there, and this program is not only a show of our gratitude, but a very public celebration of those fans who continue to show love and support for both our product and for what we stand for as a company," says Michael Hayes, assistant digital marketing manager at Ben & Jerry's.
"Instagram has been a great creative platform for us and for our fans and we have already seen an unbelievable response through our existing #FanFotoFriday program. Capture Euphoria is taking things to the next level, and we can't wait to celebrate our fans in this very fun and public way."
