A dark humored approach to healthy guilty pleasures
When scrolling through Ad Age, I found an article about a new ad released by Halo Top creamery that just hit national television. This will be the company's first ever tv ad and includes Bachelor star, Alum Nick Viall. The ad shows young children approach a Halo Top ice cream truck only to be turned away because ice cream should only be for sad adults, not happy children. Halo Top is a company that prides itself on making healthy pints of ice cream with only 280-360 calories. Halo Top first became popular in 2016, when a writer from GQ ate only their pints of ice cream for a week to prove that this company was legit. Halo Top took the non-traditional route in marketing its product, they stuck to an Instagram which quickly grew to 713,000 followers with around 1,400 posts. While they have a low engagement rate of .78%, their followers continue to increase each day.
Target: When Halo Top began it was by chance. It started as a small company and didn't see the need to spend extra money just to have a spot for tv ads. They rarely paid more than $100 for social media ads and gained most their business from word of mouth and followers. Because they wanted to keep the "small business" feel for as long as possible, they were really attracted to only advertising on social media. This caused their target audience to be of a younger millennial aged group of people, those who are usually influenced by social media. Its popularity stems from Los Angeles, New York and Wyoming. Its audience is made up of health conscious city dwellers who all enjoy a nice break at home after work with a bowl of ice cream minus the guilt. Those who are older than their 50's or younger than teens, or not living in major cities don't feel a need to skip the guilt on ice cream or may not even know that Halo Top exists if they aren't active on social media. Now, with their market saturated and their business growing far past 'small business'/social media advertising, they turn to a national tv ad. This will bring in a larger target audience of those who aren't in metropolitan areas, or those who haven't come across their social media account yet. While the ad features a kids, it is 100% marketed towards adults who need an extra break in their day without having to break their diet.
Insight: Halo Top knows the negative connotations against indulging in sweets, especially during the wave of wellness, selling ice cream isn't easy. A lot of consumers think that it is too good to be true, because with the previous negative connotations to ice cream, something must be off. Along with that, there are lots of reviews of people either loving Halo Top or hating it, there is not much in between with this brand. It is difficult to introduce a substitute to something so traditional and loved. However, Halo Top is perfect for those risk takers and innovators who are willing to try something new. They found the sweet spot between the consumers needs and wants for a healthy ice cream (seemingly impossible feat), low competition and a solid brand promise of low calorie ice cream without a silver lining. This ad also tapped into the millennial and Gen X dark humor. Twitter memes or endless hours of the "grind" may be the one to blame for this meaningless, existential crisis type humor, but there is no doubt that it is highly relatable amongst 20-40 year olds. In terms of a media spot, it airs around the time of the popular show, the Bachelor. The Bachelor has made itself a "pop culture event" by bringing women together on Monday nights who watch and discuss the show while eating dessert or drinking wine. It also attracts 1.2 million interactions on social media just from the viewers holding discussion on what will happen next. With this insight in mind, Halo Top grabbed a great spot on TV to market to an audience who enjoys a little extra indulgence and to those who are ready to share what they are watching on tv to social media.
Brand Idea: After mastering the art of earned media, Halo Top's focus is on earning a wider awareness. To do that, they created an ice cream truck ad that is going to air throughout the summer months. This ad focuses on those traditional feelings behind ice cream such as; only being for happy kids, otherwise it's too much of a guilty pleasure for adults, and completely made fun of it. It says that ice cream should only be for adults having really bad days, it prides itself on sitting down on the couch after a long day and eating a little ice cream, because you can and you need it way more than a happy kid does. Halo Top also encourages to just go ahead and eat a whole pint, because now you finally can without the guilt. This ad is different from other skinny alternatives to desserts because those are mainly focused on women walking around their living room with a small square of chocolate pretending they're satisfied from their tiny dessert. They target both men and women, and just adults in general who need a little extra light in their day, without having to be pretentious or unrealistic.
Objective: To make a dark humored ad that will appeal to adults who are indeed, going through it. It makes adults feel okay and validated about eating ice cream and encourages them to stop by the freezer section if they are having a bad day, which happens a lot. The ice cream man in the truck on the commercial touches on relatable issues like hating where you work or not finding love while saying cynical comments to happy go lucky kids.
Strengths: Since this ad is very humorous, Halo Top is going to stay on top in terms of earned and shared media. A wide range of adults can relate to the same negatives mentioned in the commercial and will most likely post about it on their own social medias. People love to make fun of themselves especially when indulging in a guilty pleasure. Saying things like, "well i deserve this, it's been a long day" and finally a commercial validates that without the actual guilt. Personally, this ad really resonated with me, I knew of Halo Top before this but would never actually feel the need to buy a $6 pint of health conscious ice cream. However, I will now keep my eyes out for it next time I'm at the grocery store after feeling like I relate more to the brands mission.
Weaknesses: This ad might only be tapping into a market that is already familiar with the product since the audience who watches the Bachelor is very niche to their brand. It also might offend those who are portrayed in the commercial as "weak" with those who are going through similar issues. Even though this is aired on a popular channel at a popular time, TV marketing can be a risky move right now since many consumers are leaving cable. Halo Top has to make sure that the money spent on this spot was worth it and that their profits are higher than what they would have gained from only social media ads.
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