In the wake of worldwide protests against racism and police violence in the summertime of 2020, many marketers assessed how they might use their brands to forge a more diverse and inclusive world, in promoting and beyond.
At the time, there was a deluge of plans and pledges made around diversity, equity and inclusion, but within the three years since, the quantity and intensity of such calls has decreased. Some marketers have seen their efforts face culture war backlash, while others have been dragged to court over their progress (or lack thereof) in meeting their goals.
That is just not the case for Häagen-Dazs: The ice cream brand in March 2021 pledged to support diverse creators with $1.5 million doled out over three years, a commitment that it fulfilled in May.
“We don’t take a look at purpose as a one-time thing. It truly has been a commitment and really an evolving commitment,” said Elizabell Marquez, CMO at Häagen-Dazs parent Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream. “Our team continues to be inspired by the creativity and the fervour of our founders, and that’s why we’ve continued to support nonprofit organizations.”
Häagen-Dazs has distributed funds to a wide range of nonprofits spanning music, fashion, art and culinary disciplines. In 2021, donations of $100,000 each were sent to Lena Waithe’s Hillman Grad Mentorship Lab, Allies in Arts, La Cocina, She Is the Music and The Council of Fashion Designers of America. Similar donations to The Tank, Free the Work, Hot Bread Kitchen, Support Creatives and Alvin Ailey followed in 2022. In April, the brand made its largest commitment to date — $500,000 — in partnership with musician Anderson Paak’s Brandon Anderson Foundation.
“We love [Paak] because his organization also shares a really similar mission to what we’ve been wanting to do over the previous couple of years around uplifting and fascinating communities through access to the humanities and experiences,” Marquez said.
Long-term pondering
For Häagen-Dazs and its CMO, a financial contribution is just the primary a part of its commitments. Beyond that, the brand has worked to engage organizations by utilizing them to fuel a #ThatsDazs campaign launched in hand with its diversity pledge.
“This has not only been a one-time donation, nevertheless it’s been really about partnering with these communities and finding ways to bring them to the forefront through our creative work and our partnerships,” Marquez explained.
For example, the brand’s donation to She Is The Music helped back the nonprofit’s Connect TogetHER Mentorship program. In turn, She Is the Music provided the DJ sets for Häagen-Dazs’ Buttered Cookie Cone Festival launch. Similarly, thanks to the ice cream brand’s donation to Allies in Arts, the nonprofit was able to commission queer Chicago-based artists Sam Kirk and Jenny Q to create an original mural for Chicago Pride that then became a component of Häagen-Dazs’ out-of-home (OOH) efforts.
In September, Häagen-Dazs will re-team with La Cocina for a San Francisco-based event called Tacolado — a mashup of taco and “helado,” which is Spanish for “ice cream” — that may help have a good time rising culinary talent during National Hispanic Heritage Month.
Häagen-Dazs can also be constructing relationships with creators and bringing them into the technique of making #ThatsDazs ad creative. The brand tapped creator Tyrell Hampton for OOH and print photography in 2021 and 2022, and brought Hampton in front of the camera in TV promoting to promote its Butter Cookie Cone product. That relationship is an example of long-term pondering, whilst other brands pull back from diversity efforts — possibly at their very own peril.
“Purpose has grow to be a key pillar of our brand. Our team is already fascinated with ways in which we’re going to proceed to support and foster all the good relationships that we’ve built during the last three years inside the creative community,” Marquez said. “We’re searching for ways to proceed to elevate talent and partner with these great organizations. So, more to come there from our brand.”
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