Over 150 years later, as more and more Americans search for better-for-you options, Breyers developed its line of CarbSmart frozen dairy desserts to ensure that consumers seeking low-carb alternatives wouldn’t have to sacrifice the simple pleasure of ice cream in their lives and healthy diets. With only 3-5g net carbs and 60-150 calories per serving, Breyers CarbSmart is a great choice for the brand’s target audience, health-conscious Americans, 55+.
Unfortunately, many in that audience mistakenly believe that eating right means avoiding indulgences, believing they need to skip dessert altogether.
With a large portion of our target audience not even considering the product, we had our work cut out to help the brand reach their lofty sales goal of growing the CarbSmart portfolio by 25% in 2024.
We needed to show our audience, wary about eating right and aging well, that there’s a dessert that fits in their life.
AUDIENCE RESEARCH:
To solve this problem, we had to uncover the reason our target was restricting dessert.
Turns out we live in a culture with toxic attitudes towards getting older. Society tells us aging well is about looking younger, which requires restricting yourself from anything perceived as “unhealthy” – from basking in the sun to enjoying ice cream. These negative attitudes and stress around aging can shave 7.5 years off of people’s lives. In other words, worrying about all the things society tells us we need to do to be healthy when aging isn’t actually good for us after all.
However, after conducting a bespoke survey of health-conscious Americans 55+, we discovered our target was ready for a perception shift. With 88% of Americans 55+ agreeing aging well should be about how you feel, not how you look, and 82.3% agreeing it’s time for the anti-aging conversation to expand to include what makes you feel youthful not just what makes you look youthful, our findings quickly highlighted that it’s time to rethink what’s actually good for you as you get older.
INSIGHT:
What actually is good for us? When we embrace life’s simple pleasures and feel young-at-heart, we remain healthier over time.
One of life’s most cherished simple pleasures, enjoying the occasional ice cream – especially one as low-cal and low-carb as CarbSmart – plays an important role in helping Americans age well, because it helps them enjoy the moment and embrace life, instead of stressing about aging. A good scoop has mental and emotional benefits, contributing to overall health and longevity.
And, according to our survey, 89% of Americans 55+ said enjoying life’s simple pleasures that are good for the soul should be considered part of a holistic anti-aging routine.
STRATEGY:
To prove CarbSmart should be part of our target’s consideration set, we subverted to the ultimate symbol of society’s negative attitudes towards getting older: anti-aging routines.
IDEA:
Tongue firmly in cheek, we reimagined Breyers CarbSmart as an “Anti-Aging Cream.”
EXECUTION:
Mimicking a beauty industry campaign to spread our message, we let our audience know that embracing life’s simple pleasures, helps us remain healthier over time.
A beauty industry campaign isn’t complete without a celebrity spokesperson, and we knew exactly who to turn to. Currently 76 years young and as vibrant as ever, we enlisted Broadway icon Bernadette Peters to reprise her role from over 30 years ago of starring in a memorable series of early 1990s Breyers ads.
Working with Bernadette showed the key to aging well can actually be found in the freezer aisle. In true beauty product campaign style, our signature touchpoint was a massive multi-sided Times Square billboard, showcasing Bernadette along with our packaging (and perfectly placed for her Broadway fan audience).
Knowing many Americans would want to hear how Bernadette keeps herself looking and feeling so young, she shared enjoying desserts like CarbSmart plays an important role in maintaining her youthful energy, in prominent outlets from People Magazine to Good Housekeeping and on social.
Upon launching, Breyers Anti-Aging Cream was an immediate hit. The campaign broke through in media, achieving 2.3 billion earned media impressions and 3.2 million social media impressions, and drove tangible business results:
Beyond impressive business outcomes, the campaign took culture by a storm, captivating corners of the Internet. “Gay Twitter,” excited to see Bernadette Peters back in Breyers ads, went wild, posting brilliant and hilarious memes celebrating her return to the brand, and pop culture icons ranging from Patricia Arquette and Kristen Chenoweth to Evan Ross Katz engaged.
The conversation and attention wasn’t just another viral micro-trend – it actually changed culture for the better, shifting perceptions of what a holistic anti-aging routine should be. Our brand lift study revealed:
With results this strong, the maker of America’s #1 branded ice cream tubs may soon also become the maker of America’s #1 anti-aging cream, proving once again that the best things in life really do start with the simplest ingredients.
