Hudsonville Ice Cream Case Study

To celebrate the launch of the newest lineup of Little Debbie-inspired flavors from Hudsonville Ice Cream, Identity developed a strategy centered on Hudsonville channels owning the announcement while simultaneously taking the news national to all influential and targeted outlets.

Aligned with the publication of the social announcement on Hudsonville Ice Cream feeds with creative developed by Identity, we tapped lifestyle/food-focused media contacts nationally and in local markets (including Michigan, Chicago, the Midwest and other top 10 media markets across the U.S.), The national announcement push resulted in placements in USA Today, People, Food & Wine, Southern Living, NBC, Fox News, Elite Daily, Yahoo! and more.

Additionally, Identity tracked hundreds of thousands of public social media mentions of the product lineup in its initial launch week. Our visibility strategy also led to additional awareness of the Little Debbie Collection as we secured placement of the product on prominent food award lists, including the People Food Awards and Food Network Magazine’s Supermarket Awards.

Most exciting of all: The meteoric success of the campaign translated directly into sales. The week of the launch, Hudsonville Ice Cream became the No. 1 bestselling ice cream across Walmart's national footprint.

Identity has masterfully generated thousands of media mentions in key Hudsonville Ice Cream retail markets, in addition to national print, digital and broadcast media exposure. Encompassing potent awareness and exposure of Hudsonville Ice Cream campaigns and initiatives, we told amazing media stories ranging from new market entrances and exciting product launches to unique in-person activations and corporate hiring initiatives.

With Identity driving social vision and programming, Hudsonville Ice Cream’s social media efforts underwent a massive and measurable transformation. We overhauled how the brand approached its foundational social media efforts and layered in surgical paid campaigns to support product launches and customer acquisition efforts as new retail partners and markets came online.

This approach was fueled by a sophisticated, multi-market advertising strategy targeting specific customer personas located in zip codes near select retailers. Hudsonville Ice Cream’s social following grew substantially, leading to millions of engaged fans (and customers). In addition to deploying strategies to help scale Hudsonville’s overall online presence, Identity also managed the direction and production of creative assets on behalf of the brand, resulting in truly “snackable” pieces of content.

To move the needle and guide buying decisions, Identity secured and managed hundreds of influencer and tastemaker partnership moments to expand brand awareness in key markets, create high-quality content for use across brand social channels and support Hudsonville Ice Cream brand campaigns.

From ice cream aficionados and gluten-free chefs to dads on the go and kid creators, we researched, identified and partnered with influencers across a variety of content segments. For special brand moments, we also utilized influencers as brand advocates for media opportunities, securing TV segments within defined markers and using skilled content creators as on-camera talent.

Identity planned and executed Hudsonville Ice Cream brand activations and high-impact exposure events throughout Michigan and the Midwest—a combination of large-scale city birthday celebrations, parks partnerships, Michigan Artisan Collection samplings, product launch tastings, in-store retailer events, seasonal sampling moments, guerilla marketing at major events like the NFL Draft and much more.

Identity manages a variety of annual and seasonal paid advertising buys on behalf of Hudsonville Ice Cream, including paid search, display, OTT and partnerships with major broadcast outlets, all targeting major retail markets. Paid campaigns promoted product availability in new markets and retailers, building essential brand awareness and establishing trust in areas where Hudsonville Ice Cream could be found.