Who knew green goop would sell so well?
Baskin-Robbins intentionally mucked up its menu to get full service from its Shrek tie-in. Then the ice cream chain poured on a sampling blitz, a cause-marketing campaign, and local overlays in 30 markets to turn more than 3.5 million consumer tongues green.
Baskin-Robbins’ R&D team spent a month concocting four Shrek goodies: Hot Sludge Sundae (hot fudge and gummy worms), Swamp Fizz (ice cream, fizzing powder, and lemon-lime soda), Shrek Swirl (green apple and grape sherbet with popping candy), and Shrek’d Out Chocolate Mint (white mint ice cream with green, goo-filled chocolate characters). The products debuted on Free Scoop Night, a May sampling event first held in 2000.
The menu ploy played to Baskin-Robbins’ core positioning: a flavor for every day of the month. (The 2,500-store chain actually has 1,000 different flavors in rotation, including a Flavor of the Month.)
“If it’s not about our product, people won’t care,” says Joe Adney, senior vp-marketing of the Glendale, CA-based chain. “We have nothing but flexibility on the product side. Hot fudge and worms is a little weird, but kids loved it.”
Baskin-Robbins also donates a book to literacy nonprofit First Book for every scoop served on Free Scoop Night. Glendale-based DreamWorks SKG matched last year’s donation, prompting the chain to create a dedicated TV spot for the event (with an assist from the studio’s animation team).
Two additional TV spots (from Vitro-Robertson) touting the overall promotion used original animation of the film’s Donkey character eating a Hot Sludge Sundae too fast and changing color after he drinks a Swamp Fizz.
It’s rare for film characters to actually use a partner’s brand. “The property didn’t already have a ton of equity, but DreamWorks also had a different approach,” explains Adney. “It made sense for these characters to interact in the real world.” DreamWorks encouraged Baskin-Robbins to play with the characters, and the animators “kept coming up with ideas to make the TV spots cooler,” he says.
“They were very willing to work with us,” says Anne Globe, head of marketing for DreamWorks’ consumer products group. “They were excited about finding ways to offer something throughout their system.”
P-O-P displays (manufactured by Bartel Design Group) got standing ovations: Six-foot standees of Shrek drew folks in from the street to take pictures. Some offered to buy the display — or tried to steal them. “We kept an eye on eBay to see if any went up for sale,” laughs Adney.
Overlays in 30 markets gave away movie tickets and ice cream, and screenings in the top 12 markets included free scoops for theater-goers. To prime franchisees for the mandatory program, Baskin-Robbins sent each a CD-ROM with Shrek trailers, TV spots, and instructions for making Swamp Fizz and Hot Sludge Sundae.
Same-store sales jumped 9.4 percent in May and 8.3 percent in June, the chain’s largest increase in 15 years. Some franchisees did so well they extended the promotion through August. Free Scoop Night served 3.5 million customers in four hours.
So how does an ogre meet the ice cream man in the first place? Baskin-Robbins’ agency of record, Norm Marshall & Associates, Sun Valley, CA, introduced them.
“When we first saw the footage, we knew right away we could build a whole program on the character because he’s so adorable,” says Erin Garay, director of promotions for Norm Marshall.
Maybe it is easy being green.
Supporting Cast
Joe Adney, Baskin-Robbins
Devery Holmes, Erin Garay, Norm Marshall & Associates
Anne Globe, Wendy Ryding, DreamWorks
Network
