Hiland Dairy Foods, Omaha, Neb., and Velvet Ice Cream, Utica, Ohio, scooped out summer marketing campaigns focused, respectively, on the intergenerational appeal of ice cream and the support of cancer research.
Hiland’s campaign, “Happiness in Every Scoop: A Tradition for Generations,” which runs through Aug. 6, centers around a television spot depicting a boy’s lifelong love of ice cream. There are also print ads that play off the same theme, engagement of influencers who created shareable content, and a combination of paid, shared, earned and owned media support, said Rick Beaman, vice president of Hiland/Joint Ventures.
“A primary goal of Hiland Dairy’s marketing is to actively engage with our consumers,” he said. “Our ice cream promotion was intended to create a summertime experience for consumers while incorporating Hiland’s history of making delicious ice cream.”
Hiland’s special flavor for Silver Dollar City theme park
Other goals include creating brand awareness that would lead to sales, evoking consumer nostalgia of fun times, and engaging them with a trip giveaway to Silver Dollar City theme park in Branson, Mo., home of the Outlaw Run Wooden Roller Coaster, which inspired the creation of Hiland’s Outlaw Run Ice Cream, a mix of chocolate chunks and sea-salted caramel in vanilla ice cream.
Valued at about $1,000, the trip giveaway, available via a contest page at hilandicecream.com, includes a two-night hotel stay, four two-day passes to Silver Dollar City and one meal card worth $100, four passes to Showboat Branson Belle for a cruise, show and meal, and a Visa prepaid cash card worth $200. Other prizes available on social media include a free carton of Hiland ice cream and a Hiland-branded ice cream spoon and dish.
Velvet’s new packaging supports Pelotonia cycling event
The Velvet Ice Cream campaign centered around new lime green packaging designed to link the brand with support of cancer research through Pelotonia, an annual cycling event that funds cancer research at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center — Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital as well as the Richard J. Solove Research Institute.
The Pelotonia bike ride, which can range from 25 to 180 miles through multiple Ohio counties, takes place on Aug. 4. Velvet has participated since the inaugural year in 2008, donating about 10,000 servings of ice cream to riders, their families and other donors. In past years, Velvet had sported pink packaging in support of breast cancer but decided this year to adopt Pelotonia’s lime green branding and broaden its support to all types of cancer.
“We wanted to take it to the next level and introduced a Pelotonia-branded ice cream carton,” said Nathan Arnold, marketing manager at Velvet. “We felt it was a great move to support all cancer research — breast, colon, brain, pancreatic — all cancers, as a whole. We felt compelled to make the switch so our dollars could go further in helping a lot of people.”
The packaging change, like any other, cost “thousands of dollars,” Arnold adds, but “we felt it was worth it to get that message out there.”
The Dager family, which owns Velvet, has experienced breast cancer both itself and among its employees, said Joanne Dager, vice president. “We never disregard any of the effects on families,” she said. “We’ve always supported our associates to the end. We’ve done many, many walks. We’ve done fund raisers here in our office.” This year, that support will include a 25-cent donation with the sale of every carton of Velvet’s new Vanilla Lovers Trio flavor.
Although breast cancer has afflicted herself, her mother, and a couple associates, Dager adds, “We figured, how could we go wrong fighting all cancers? To see the passion in our associates’ eyes when we are able to give them a check sends a thrill up your spine. And if it’s not somebody here in our backyard, we’re going to give that same feeling to somebody else.”
Arnold said he and about 10 people in the company individually will support the bike event through time, money or physical participation.
“Each year that’s growing,” he said. “Every dollar that is raised goes toward cancer research. … We know people who have taken treatments and trials created through Pelotonia dollars. They know they’re alive today because of the research that’s being done.”
