To promote BenNaNa in China, Nestlé Ice Cream ran a digital campaign on a microsite and social network Sina Weibo. Nestle worked with Social@Ogilvy (a team of social experts from OgilvyOne and Ogilvy PR) to run the two-part campaign. It consisted of a microsite based on the kid-friendly theme of a magical island as well as a hugely popular corporate Sina Weibo account complete with bespoke funny videos that has seen close to three million users share posts or upload their own BenNaNa pictures.
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Brand: Nestle | Sector: FMCG, Food | Coutry: China | Objective: Build brand engagement | Agency | Saachi and Saachi | Format: Social media, Gaming |
BenNaNa Ice Cream is an unusual ice cream stick from Nestlé Ice Cream that is eaten just like a real banana. The eating experience starts when you take a bite from the top of the peelable jelly shell, which you then roll down like a banana skin to reveal an ice cream core.
The Nestlé BenNaNa’s Sina Weibo account entertains visitors with amusing stories of BenNaNa’s magical ‘peelability’ and invites them to share their own BenNaNa stories through posts and pictures.
The use of Sina Weibo hashtags such as #LegendaryNestléBenNaNa and #EatingABananaWithoutSpittingOutTheSkin spread word of peeling and eating a BenNaNa Ice Cream and continues to encourage users to share their own jokes and experiences.
“BenNaNa” was ranked as the number one trending topic on Sina Weibo two weeks after the official Weibo account launch in March 2012 and has since been ranked among the top 10 Weibo searches a total of seven times.
Social networking giant QQ was selected as the digital platform to host the interactivemicro-site by OgilvyOne’s media agency partner Mindshare. Set against a fun tropical island backdrop full of monkeys, the microsite is packed with animated BenNaNa Ice Cream games that encourage netizens to earn QQ’s virtual currency, learn magic tricks and vote to win prizes.
Running through the hot and sticky summer season, the BenNaNa micro-site will be live from April-September 2012 and the Sina Weibo account until summer 2012.
