Ben & Jerry’s is no newcomer to what Forbes calls the “new era of movement marketing.” Their latest endeavour aims to encourage fans to raise awareness about Fair Trade Month (this October) by keeping their tweets “short and sweet.”
Fans can sign up to take part in Ben & Jerry’s initiative, and everytime they tweet, the unused characters will be donated to the ‘Fair Tweets’ cause. If the tweet is short enough, it will be completed with a pre-set message about Fair Trade that prompts others to participate.
The campaign originates from Ben & Jerry’s mission to use Fair Trade ingredients in their products, and according to Forbes, this is the just latest of their “Social Mission” programs. The idea is that every purchase of Ben & Jerry’s helps to support Fair Trade farming, and these Twitter messages will increase awareness of Fair Trade practices. And to top if off, Ben & Jerry’s will reinforce its reputation as “the only dairy dessert with a conscience.”
The company’s social media presence is fairly strong already: Ben & Jerry’s official Twitter account, @cherrygarcia, has over 22,000 followers, and the company’s Facebook page has over 3 million fans.
Will ‘Fair Tweets’ catch on and increase awareness for the brand on Twitter? Or will the pre-set messages be a turn-off or nuisance as they pop up on users’ Twitter feeds? Let us know what you think.
