How many times have we seen corporate departments completely unaligned with their story telling? Too many. And it kills the story.

To all you businesses out there trying to create a buzz: Please put one person in charge of telling the story and hold them accountable.

Lewis,

Ah good. I am relieved that I wasn't being overly critical. I think the tie between Haagen-Daz and the bee situation is a good one. It makes sense.

And I think the website supports that. It's just the video that has me scratching my head.

Agreed -- someone has to take responsibility for protecting the story.

Drew

Drew, I think Haagen-Daz is doing a good thing to bring attention to the honeybee problem, although I don't know if scientists have yet found a solution (I didn't have time to go to the website). I've heard about this before -- actually several months ago -- via stories on the network news shows and an in-depth report on "CBS Sunday Morning."

The video does seem totally out of place for a serious subject like this. Perhaps it's an attempt to connect with young people, but it seems to fall flat.

Haagen-Daz could have done more by using whatever they spent for the lame video to help scientists figure out what to do. Or if it's something that human behavior is impacting, the money could have gone instead for a program for school kids, who can then impact their parents. (It can also give them another reason to feel good about H-D, which might spur more store visits.)

I don't know the whole story here, but there's a lot that can be done if H-D is really looking to do something about the honeybees situation.

David,

I have been hearing more about this bee problem on NPR and other places as well. For some odd reason, I listened to an interview with some beekeepers a few weekends ago on the radio.

What is interesting to me is that Haagen-Daz is sponsoring research and putting their money into figuring out the problem. Their website is pretty serious about the topic and gives some good information, how you can help etc.

Which is why I'm really struggling with the video element of the campaign. It isn't a little off from the rest -- it's 180 degrees off from the rest.

Drew

Drew,
I think Lewis' comment about a single thread of responsibility for a marketing/infomercial like this one on the bees is spot-on and may be one of the most prominent. Also, I think the bees [or their product-honey] should be tied to this piece.
I read the text before watching the video and so my confusion or the jading of my perspective was a lot lower that it might have been without the reading.
My first thought was "this looks like a Dress-up party at a South Beach night club with everyone wearing the same clothes." Then I wondered what the hip-hop theme was targeting [certainly not grandma]. That's as far as I got because I am very sensitive to and up on the bee population declination. I have a rowing partner who is the "bee inspector" for six counties in NW Ohio and he keeps me abreast.
I think the monies, whatever they were, might have been better spent on "blurbs" in their promos for their products. I know H-D doesn't much advertise on the TV and therefore their outlay might only be only a modest amount.
I'm rambling. Thanks for asking for an opinion.

Drew,
I think Lewis' comment about a single thread of responsibility for a marketing/infomercial like this one on the bees is spot-on and may be one of the most prominent. Also, I think the bees [or their product-honey] should be tied to this piece.
I read the text before watching the video and so my confusion or the jading of my perspective was a lot lower that it might have been without the reading.
My first thought was "this looks like a Dress-up party at a South Beach night club with everyone wearing the same clothes." Then I wondered what the hip-hop theme was targeting [certainly not grandma]. That's as far as I got because I am very sensitive to and up on the bee population declination. I have a rowing partner who is the "bee inspector" for six counties in NW Ohio and he keeps me abreast.
I think the monies, whatever they were, might have been better spent on "blurbs" in their promos for their products. I know H-D doesn't much advertise on the TV and therefore their outlay might only be only a modest amount.
I'm rambling. Thanks for asking for an opinion.

While Haagen-Daz should be commended for getting involved in environmental issues, I wonder if this particular cause is the best one for the Haagen-Daz brand. The link between the two (honey bees and Haagen-Daz ) is tenuous, and I think Haagen-Daz should (in order to best reinforce their brand) find another cause to support that is more closely aligned with Haagen-Daz’s core business.

For example, Nike at one point (in the late 1980s/early 1990s) supported a host of organizations and groups that had little to no relation to Nike’s core business. While this was honorable in and of itself, Nike as a brand was not receiving much credit for this as it was difficult for the public to draw a link between Nike and (say) medical research (Nike would later realign all its charitable activities and focus purely on encouraging children to lead healthy lifestyles by providing them with opportunities to play sports). While the chasm between Haagen-Daz and honey bees is not as deep as that between Nike and medical research, it is still slightly too difficult for someone to intuitively associate the two. As a brand, Haagen-Daz would be much better off supporting causes that directly relate to their business.

@Salam: I hear what you are saying but, fyi, the only reason that HD is involved in this campaign is because their product's livelihood depends upon it.

HD needs bees for honey and fruit (almost 40% of their flavors depend upon them).

So it's not an altruistic campaign--it's about the bottom line. That's not at all to say that HD isn't doing good in spreading awareness about our poor bees, but just wanted to clarify that it's not like Greenpeace who is committed to saving whales sans a profit motive.

Drew: Great piece. Once I can put some thoughts together on the video I'll chime back in. But for now, words, um, escape me. (What were they thinking?)

Wow! Yah... there's some very nice dancing in there but a very tenuous link to the actual subject matter.

Although raising awareness is a good thing, that money might have been better spent on contributing to research toward solutions to the problem.

CK: Thanks for your comments. While i do see the link between HD and the honey bees, I think HD could have supported an issue that draws a stronger link between the two. Maybe I'm just influenced by their recent T.V. ads that stress the milk and chocolate sides of their products rather than the fruits (and now I'm somehow in the mood for Haagen-Daz).

oooopsss...The middle part of my response was cut off (bad cut and paste technique on my part).

In the Nike example, sports = Nike. That association is easy to make.

In the HD case, it goes something like: honey bees = pollination crops = fruits = ingredient in ice cream = HD

I think if you ask most people if they think of HD when they think of honey bees, many might say no.

I think the cause of honey bee decline is largely because of pesticides. They are collateral damage since they are very, very useful bugs.

Haagen-Daz's interest here is clear but they would be well served to work toward solutions. We need bees to pollinate the foods we eat. They are *essential* insects not pests.

I think the problem with the video is that it was packaged with the other communications you received.

I am guessing that H-D hopes the video will "go viral" and entertain/engage younger viewers enough that they'll be prompted to visit the website & learn the serious story. It's not intended to say anything on its own, only meant to inspire viewer to take the next action & click thru.

The video should have been distributed on its own as just a random fun clip, no obvious connection to the larger campaign, no association with H-D pitch. Then people could've have forwarded it to each other purely as something entertaining they wanted to share with friends.

Jack,

As I mentioned to David, I've been hearing a lot more about this problem so it must be pretty severe if the news is making it mainstream.

Which is why the video seems so off-target.

Drew

Salam,

The Nike example is a good reminder that with cause marketing, it usually makes more sense to pick a single focus and devote your resources at that one effort.

I can understand the HD-bee link. And I'm guessing they wanted to do something that everyone else wasn't already doing but was meaningful. So mission accomplished there.

It's the execution that baffles me a little.

Drew

CK,

Can we explore something you said as a tangent here?

You said HD was supporting the "help the bees" thing because it was tied to their bottom line. Greenpeace is an organization that exists to save the whale (and other stuff) so I'm not sure that's an apples to apples comparison.

But let's take Salam's Nike example. Do you think their efforts with getting kids who are couch potatoes up and active is also tied to their bottom line or do you see that as 100% altruistic?

I'm just curious if that's your take on most cause marketing or just when there is a product link to the cause.

Looking forward to hearing what else you have to say, as always.

Drew

Verna,

That's part of what makes this all so interesting. They are giving money for research as well.

So clearly part of what they want to do is get marketing buzz (sorry, no pun intended) for caring about this bee crisis.

I get that they need/want to market it. I just wonder about the boy band dancing bees as the spokespeople.

Drew

Neil,

I am sure H-D's interest in the bee situation is genuine. And they are financially supporting research to try to resolve the problem.

What did you think of the video as a vehicle for educating people (or driving them to the website to be educated) about the problem?

Drew

Patricia,

Let's assume the video does attract younger people and engage them. Then, they visit the URL on the video because they want more of what they just enjoyed.

They get there...and BOOM, there's this scenic, tranquil bee field.

I think that abrupt shift in tone and style would just turn them off and they'd quickly be moving on. Don't you?

Drew

I didn't say it was 100% well executed :-) -- just that you weren't SUPPOSED to look at the video & the campaign together and evaluate them as a package.
Maybe they thought the extreme contrast in tone & style would be another attention getter. Or maybe the agency that created the video was only being measured on views/clicks.

I agree that, at minimum, the landing page needed to incorporate some element of the video to "welcome" those viewers to the site.

@Drew: I think that cause marketing...when aligned with a company...should be a win-win for both, yep. For example, I love what McD's did with Ronald McDonald houses. It helps kids. And family time (and kids) is a big selling point for McD's. Avon supports breast cancer research and, well, women is Avon's buying audience.

Paul Newman's food products gives a certain % of profits to various charities, and always has. (though for some reason they seem in a league of their own--I think because they out-and-out give to charities with every single purchase, since incepted).

I was addressing Salam's good question of asking if the HBees was the right cause for HD's core business--so I was just explaining that the HBees product is actually more than a cause. It's 40% of their flavors (almonds, blueberries, strawberries, honey)...ergo it wasn't just a effort that is a nice cause/charity--it's integral to their biz and their bottom line. It's more than just a cause, we're talking the future of many of their very flavors.

Am I making sense? I might not be...maybe I've been watching that darn video too much ;-)

Patricia,

All of your "maybes" are certainly possible. I just don't see the marketing wisdom in any of them, if they were indeed why they executed the campaign the way they did.

And the shame of it is...they were 75% of the way there. The video just derails them, in my opinion.

Drew

CK,

Nope...you are making sense. Just wanted to make sure I understood what you were saying.

Drew

Well Drew, I was trying to avoid commenting on the video itself but if I must. It is silly and mildly engaging and I can see children laughing.

If they want to save the bees, though, this video has marginal value. The people who actually have some influence on saving the bees are not going to be moved one way or another by the video.

That said, I have to give credit to Hagen Daz to focusing on this important issue. Sure, it is PR and yes they have an interest in ingredients.

But, like John Locke and Adam Smith, I do not think motivations are as important as results. Will HD save some actual bees or have they yet??

While I don't have a problem with companies doing good and in turn raising awareness for their brands (cause marketing should be a 3-C win-win-win: charity, customers, company). I received a pitch also and shallow as it may be the first thought that ran thru my mind was .. where is the ice cream? I was a click away for asking for coupons for Diva's community ;-) I agree with CK there should have been a closer tie-in.

Hmm bees and Ice Cream - interesting. Do they have a honey flavored frozen yogurt or something? ;)

Btw, here's what Burt's Bees is doing -- they give away a free packet of seeds and have this PSA (which is much more subdued than HD's):

http://youtube.com/watch?v=unca1QR3nLs

Nick,

I assume you are joking but, just in case, there are a lot added ingredients that come from trees and plants that require honey bee pollination. That is there direct interest.

There indirect interest is that this affects are food supply generally and is an important but under reported problem. Bees are absolutely crucial yet they are dying out.

I meant to say "their" not "there" above.

Drew: To answer your initial question, if I had seen this without the benefit of just having read your post, I would have assumed it was a "video response" to the goofy dancing Stride gum guy. ("Where In The World Is Matt?")

Never have figured out the tie-in to ice cream.

But most importantly? I would never have bothered to pass it on. It's just not very funny or clever or amusing. My friends would be annoyed it I sent it to them.

Here's what I'm amazed we didnt see here...

"So see if you can beat our lame attempt at a video by submitting your own to [special.url]. Extra points if you have also submitted entries to the Swiffer Dance and the Big Mac 2 All Beef Patties song contest. Winner gets an all expense paid trip to the US beekeeper museum. Runner up gets a pint of vanilla ice cream."

There. Now we have a 2008 version of an integrated marketing campaign. ;)

fyi, the campaign appears to be generating BUZZ
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=88890

no, that doesn't mean HG is really making progress in solving the disappearing honey bee issue. but yes, they probably feel they got bang for their marketing buck

Another way to promote site... Video promotion or social media promotion is a great way to attract visitors but also remember to make sure you are giving the right information.