Beginning in 2007, with sales and consumer interest low, Häagen-Dasz, an American ice

cream brand, decided to do something big to revamp their brand. Realizing that honey bees were

a huge contributor to nearly 40 percent of the ingredients in their ice cream flavors, Häagen-Dasz

pledged to help save the honey bees, specifically taking on the issue of Colony Collapse Disorder

(CCD), an abnormal phenomenon that occurs when the majority of worker bees in a honey bee

colony disappear, through their Häagen-Dazs Loves Honey Bees: Let’s Lick this Problem

campaign.

Häagen-Dasz hoped that with their honey bee campaign they could simultaneously raise

awareness for CCD and the importance of honey bees, while improving the sales of their

products and restoring their annual sales growth. In order to do so, Häagen-Dasz divided the

goals of their campaign into three main categories: business goals, awareness and comprehension

goals, and behavioral goals. In terms of business, Häagen-Dasz focused on (a) driving sales of its

new Vanilla Honey Bee flavor and products carrying the honey bee “cause” symbol and (b)

increasing their 2008 revenue growth by 1 percent over 2007. In order to build awareness and

comprehension, Häagen-Dasz pledged to (a) increase awareness of the honey bee issue and the

campaign and (b) increase consumer media impressions by 25 percent over 2007 levels, equaling

a total media goal of 125 million impressions in year one. Lastly, in order to establish their

behavioral objectives, Häagen-Dasz wanted to (a) convince consumers to plant bee-friendly

habitats, (b) drive visitors to helpthehoneybees.com website, created by the company for the

campaign, and (c) increase consumer recommendations of Häagen-Dazs over quarter 1 levels.

In order for the campaign to be successful, Häagen-Dasz used extensive primary and

secondary research to evaluate consumer awareness of CCD and their general attitudes toward

the Häagen-Dazs company. They also used this research to better their own understanding of the
issue of CCD, and other companies’ involvement with CCD. To begin, Häagen-Dazs conducted

a number of focus groups which helped them to discover three major findings: (a) when

consumers see Häagen-Dazs supporting a cause and educating people about an issue, they feel

positive about the brand and its involvement, (b) creating awareness about this issue makes

consumers feel that the brand truly cares about corporate social responsibility, rather than just

sales revenue, and (c) supporting the cause helped consumers feel more connected to the brand.

With this information in mind and other extensive research at play, Häagen-Dazs was

able to determine that their campaign had to raise awareness, educate, and engage consumers and

community groups. Häagen-Dazs also found that at that point in time, no other major food

brands had adopted the issue of CCD. Taking advantage of being the first to own the CCD issue

was integral in the success of the campaign.

Through their research, Häagen-Dazs was able to narrow their target audience to males

and females ages 35-54, specifically those who were active, have children, were highly educated,

and resided in urban and suburban areas. Häagen-Dazs determined that these target consumers

cared most about where their food comes from, what food they were eating, and the food that

they were giving to their family’s, making them more interested in the company’s all-natural

ingredients. It was also found that this audience was seen to care most about contributing to a

“sustainable society,” especially in a simple way that did not interfere with their jobs, families,

etc.

To begin their campaign, Häagen-Dasz donated $250,000 to Pennsylvania State

University and the University of California, Davis in order to fund sustainable pollination and

CCD research. The company also gave $10,00 to the Pollinator Partnership, an organization that

works to preserve honey bee health. Häagen-Dasz then put together an advisory board of
scientists from both universities as well as beekeepers from across the country to ensure that

their campaign remained authentic and factual. Members of the advisory board also served as

expert spokespeople for the campaign.

Additionally, Häagen-Dasz created a brand new flavor called Vanilla Honey Bee. The

new flavor as well as all other bee-dependent flavors were branded with a special logo and

pledged a percentage of sales to CCD research. These tactics ensured that their customers had a

direct hand in supporting the cause, encouraging sales of those special bee-dependent products.

Furthermore, Häagen-Dasz implemented their Million Seed Challenge as a tool to entice

consumers through interactive partnership with the company and cause. Häagen-Dasz reached

out to online supporters of their campaign on sites such as Craigslist and Meetup.com, and asked

them to help plant one million seeds so that they could help build bee-friendly habitats in the

community. In order to do this, Häagen-Dasz sent out seed packets to those interested. After

receiving the seed packets, consumers were supposed to plant them in their backyards, creating

bee-friendly environments all across the country.

But Häagen-Dazs did not stop there. They hosted an ice cream social on Capitol Hill,

where the company Brand Director, Katty Pien, talked to the Subcommittee on Horticulture and

Organic Agriculture about CCD. This event helped to raise awareness for CCD and to encourage

legislators to stand in favor of issues involving honey bees. In return, this allowed for

Häagen-Dazs to receive multiple national news stories from across the country.

In its first year, the Häagen-Dazs Loves Honey Bees campaign significantly achieved

their goals beyond the expectations the company set for themselves. Häagen-Dazs increased their

sales by 5.3 percent, far beyond the expected 1 percent. They also sustained 4 percent growth

throughout 2008.
 In terms of media, Häagen-Dazs received more than 277 million media impressions,

worth almost $1.5 million in advertising equivalencies. The campaign was also included in more

than 1,097 outlets where the Häagen-Dazs brand was mentioned in the headline or the lead, over

93 percent of this media coverage was positive and 100 percent of all stories about the campaign

included Häagen-Dazs’ key PR messages, and the campaign earned Häagen-Dazs a 12-point

increase and honey bee awareness a 6-point increase in PR.

Häagen-Dazs also surpassed their goal of planting one million seeds, with consumers

helping to plant more than 1.2 million bee-friendly habitats. They experienced 469,798 visitors

to the helpthehoneybees.com website and visitors viewed an average of 8 pages per visit. The

campaign even earned Häagen-Dazs a 13 percent increase in brand advocacy, earning the highest

spot in their category. Additionally, the campaign promoted more than 950 consumers and

organizations to reach out to Häagen-Dazs with suggestions, collaboration offers, requests for

additional information, and praise for their campaign.

Now, nearly 13 years since the campaign’s original release, Häagen-Dazs has donated

over $1 million to honey bee research and they are still working to help the cause. Häagen-Dazs

has helped to create the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, a bee-friendly garden built at the

University of California, Davis meant to provide honey bees with a year-long source of food to

support their population. Most recently, Häagen-Dazs has also been working with the Xerces

Society for Invertebrate Conservation, a non-profit that works to protect bees and other insects

and their habitats, to maintain the health of bee populations.

Coming into the campaign, Häagen-Dazs had many strengths that contributed to its

success. Thanks to Häagen-Dazs already established consumer base, the company had a wide set

of funds to utilize, allowing them more time, research, planning, and advertisements.
Additionally, these consistent customers already had a preference for the brand and therefore,

would be more attentive to the threat that CCD posed against the company’s ability to continue

making their products.

There were also a number of opportunities that assisted in Häagen-Dazs’ success. Most

importantly, Häagen-Dazs was the first company to adopt the issue of CCD. By being the first

company to introduce the public to this cause, it showed the company’s innovative leadership to

sustainability, establishing them as a leader rather than a follower.

However, Häagen-Dazs was still susceptible to many weaknesses and threats throughout

the campaign. The biggest being that the cause of CCD, although theorized, is unknown. With

the cause of CCD unknown, there is no way to prevent the deaths of honey bees. Without a direct

understanding of where their money is going, consumers may have been less likely to purchase

the company’s products or to donate. In order to combat this issue I would recommend focusing

on how donations are contributing to CCD research, not necessarily a “cure.”

After thoroughly researching Häagen-Dazs’ Häagen-Dazs Loves Honey Bees campaign, I

can confidently say that this campaign was a major success for the company. Häagen-Dazs was

able to set a precedent as the first organization to bring awareness to the issue of CCD, which

was incredibly significant to the success of their campaign. The strategies Häagen-Dazs used in

their campaign fostered innovation, originality, and creativity, turning something as simple as

buying a pint of ice cream into a way to support sustainability.

I picked this campaign because I admired the innovation that it proposed. What I think

made this campaign particularly effective was that the company picked a cause that was close to

their industry and a cause that had yet to receive any significant recognition.
 I first learned about this campaign during my sophomore year COM 100 class, and ever

since I have been captivated by its brilliance. This campaign has taught me how important it is to

be first in terms of any strategic campaign I may be a part of in the future, showing how

consumers want to see brands as leaders, taking on a cause because they want to, not because

everyone else is doing it. I believe this campaign has set the foundation for success and it will

forever stand as a structural backbone for my success in strategic communications.

To learn more about the campaign, check out one of Häagen-Dazs’ most recent

advertisements here!
Resources

Cause-related campaign of the year 2009. (2009, Mar 09). PRweek, 12, 1. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/docview/232023982?accountid=131
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Case Study: Haagen-Dazs Loves Honey Bees. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://sites.psu.edu/srostick473/case-study-haagen-dazs-love-honey-bees/.

Häagen-Dazs® is sweet on Honey Bees. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.haagendazs.us/save-the-honey-bees.

Häagen-Dazs® Loves Honey Bees. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.haagendazs.us/about/news/haagen-dazsr-loves-honey-bees#:~:text=Honey
bees pollinate one-third,ice creams, sorbets and bars.&text=Since 2008,
Häagen-Dazs®,$1,000,000 to honey bee research.

Hendrix, Jerry A.; Hayes, Darrell C.; Kumar, Pallavi Damani (2012-01-01). Public Relations
Cases (Page 265). Cengage Textbook. Kindle Edition.

The Häagen-Dazs® Brand Celebrates 10th Anniversary of Honey Bee Support. (2018, June 27).
Retrieved from
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-haagen-dazs-brand-celebrates-10th-anniv
ersary-of-honey-bee-support-300621618.html.