Just this past week I found myself once again, at Wal-Mart with the intention of buying one item but actually ending up buying more snacks and food that I do not need. That being said, one of the necessary items I bought was my favorite Ben & Jerry’s, The Tonight Dough ice cream. I am unbelievably addicted to this delicious dessert. I try to tell myself that I should forego the ice cream and attempt to be healthy. It never works. I give in every time.
While The Tonight Dough satisfies each of the 6 P’s of marketing, there are 4 that should be described in more detail. Firstly is the product itself, The Tonight Dough is a mix of both caramel and chocolate ice cream with chocolate swirls. It gets even better because the dessert also has two different kinds of cookie dough, chocolate chip and peanut butter. That tasty ice cream is also available in the form of Ben & Jerry’s Slices which are little chocolate snack bites with the ice cream inside. As it more or less suggests, the name The Tonight Dough comes from Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show. Wal-Mart sells The Tonight Dough 160z containers for $4.28. Target also sells The Tonight Dough 16oz. for $4.00.
Other brands such as Talenti and Halo Top sell 16 oz. containers of ice cream for similar prices. Talenti is about $4.00 at Target and $3.98 at Wal-Mart. Halo Top is $3.99 at Target and $3.88 at Wal-Mart. The Tonight Dough can be found in convenience stores and grocery stores such as Wal-Mart, Target, Walgreens, and CVS. Depending on whether or not the service is offered, sometimes it is possible to even order the ice cream from a store online. Regarding the P, for promotion, the partnership between Jimmy Fallon himself and Ben & Jerry’s was helpful to begin with. The Tonight Show held a broadcast introducing The Tonight Dough with both Ben and Jerry, which certainly helped to promote the product.
Ben & Jerry’s possess something that is very unique to them as a company. Several of their ice creams are dedicated to a charity or cause. The Tonight Dough profits go to the SeriousFun Children’s Network, which is an organization that has locations across the globe for children with serious illnesses. The SeriousFun Children’s Network allows these children to the experience of going to a camp but for free. Jimmy Fallon has also hosted a few other segments of the Tonight Show that feature The Tonight Dough.
The marketing concept is essentially the recognizing and analyzing the needs of customers and then satisfying those needs. Ben & Jerry’s accomplishes this by creating various different flavors that can cater to a wide range of customers. With so many different flavors, Ben & Jerry’s can satisfy the tastes of numerous customers. The company also offers non-dairy ice cream flavors as well to fulfill the needs of those particular customers who cannot consume dairy products. In addition to the non-dairy ice cream, Ben & Jerry’s also has a variety of MOO-Phoria Light Ice Cream, which is low calories and low fat but with just as much flavor, catering to another segment of the consumers. The diverse assortment of flavors and types of ice cream provides Ben & Jerry’s with a broad range of customers. However, Ben & Jerry’s practice of the marketing concept is not just in their ice cream flavors, but also in their community involvement.
The company has several different organizations and projects that they have created over the years dedicated to serving communities and making the world a better place. On the Ben & Jerry’s website, there is a page dedicated entirely to the issues in which they support with information on their campaigns and topic as well as how viewers can get involved. Ben & Jerry’s also has Community Action Teams with the purpose of helping and serving in local communities and service projects. Furthermore, the company is also a certified B corporation, which according to their website means that they “use the power of business to solve social and environmental problems.”(B Corp | Ben & Jerry’s.) and “In 1988, Ben & Jerry’s was on of the first companies in the world to place a social mission in equal importance to its product and economic missions.”(B Corp | Ben & Jerry’s).
The company also created their PartnerShop Program, which allows nonprofit organizations to run Ben & Jerry’s shops, without the usually necessary franchise fees and creating jobs as well as opportunities for young adults while further helping the community. There is also the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation, another organization, focused on giving back to the community and as stated on their website, “The mission of the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation is to engage Ben & Jerry’s employees in philanthropy and social change work; to give back to our Vermont communities; and to support grassroots activism and community organizing for social and environmental justice around the country.” (Support Grassroots Activism…). Lastly, Ben & Jerry’s even has a Social and Environmental Assessment Report page detailing everything they have done to make a difference during a particular year.
This kind of dedication to giving back is what makes Ben and Jerry’s so successful. They are not just selling ice cream. Ben & Jerry’s is selling the idea that a business can be successful and give back to the community, make a difference, and support other all at the same time. The company is dedicated to making changes and several of their ice cream flavors are created with this in mind. Therefore, I absolutely believe that Ben & Jerry’s has embodied the marketing concept. I know that when I am buying their ice cream I am also buying the idea that a difference is being made.
Ben & Jerry’s The Tonight Dough satisfies three out of the four components of the PSSP hierarchy of needs, those three being physiological, social, and personal needs. Firstly, The Tonight Dough is an ice cream and therefore food. Although The Tonight Dough is high in calories, it is more or less a snack and meets the physiological need for food and sustenance. Regarding the social component, Ben & Jerry’s is incredibly active in giving back to the community and raising awareness of social issues. The Tonight Dough profits as mentioned previously, granted to the SeriousFun Children’s Network. This ice cream has another social purpose.
It brings people together. When I was back home, my dad, my siblings and I would fight to get to The Tonight Dough. It was an ongoing struggle of hiding the ice cream in the very back of the refrigerator behind all the frozen foods every time my mother would buy it. However, we also had a family movie night with ice cream and for the past several years that ice cream has been The Tonight Dough. Ice cream is something to enjoy with everyone even if it’s arguing over who gets the very last bite and who is left to lick the remaining drops off of the pint lid. Lastly, personal needs are met because The Tonight Dough is a dessert, something you buy to treat yourself. Treating yourself is important and it does not matter if that happens to be because you feel great, had a great day at school or work, or maybe because you are going through a breakup and you feel you owe it to yourself to have something nice.
Personally, The Tonight Dough is my favorite ice cream flavor. I have never had anything that compares to the gooey goodness that comes in the pint with a goofy Jimmy Fallon on the front. My mother watches The Tonight Show all the time back home and I love watching with her. Jimmy Fallon makes me laugh harder than I ever have before. There are so many memories surrounding The Tonight Dough ice cream that even though it’s my favorite, I also buy it because I miss my family. I always used to sneak The Tonight Dough in the shopping cart back home so maybe its habit but I certainly am buying the memories just as much as the flavors.
From my own experiences, The Tonight Dough has most definitely lead me to express the two most important reactions to a product, repeat purchase and positive word of mouth. Considering the number of times I have bought The Tonight Dough, which happens to be an embarrassing amount. When my friends ask me about the ice cream that is always present in my freezer, I end up making the ice cream sound like my life source of gooey chocolate and caramel goodness that makes me feel better no matter what. I am good at sharing and love when my friends enjoy the same things I do. I think I have recruited at least three of my friends and my grandfather over to the dark side of repeatedly purchasing the wonderfully delicious The Tonight Dough ice cream.
