Halo Top, Bumble dish out frozen treats for National Ice Cream Day

Brief:

Halo Top Creamery will celebrate National Ice Cream Day on July 21 by giving users of the dating app Bumble a chance to win a free box of its Halo Top Pops. Starting at noon that day, Halo Top fans in the U.S. can download the Bumble app and swipe in its Bumble Date, Bumble BFF or Bumble Bizz sections to find the ice cream offer, according to an announcement.
Eligible Bumble users must input their mailing address to receive a coupon for a free box of Halo Top Pops that can be redeemed in-store at select national retailers. The coupons will be delivered by mail from July 29 to Aug. 9.
Halo Top fans who don't use Bumble can visit a microsite to claim a free box of pops on July 21. The ice-cream maker also will hand out free treats from freezers in some of the "best cities for dating," such as Austin, Texas; Charlotte, North Carolina; and San Francisco. Halo Top also will dish out ice cream in Los Angeles, where the company is based, and in New York at brand activations.

Insight:

Halo Top's promotion on Bumble is a clever way to reach the dating app's millions of U.S. users and gather their address information for future marketing promotions. The data can help the maker of low-calorie ice cream to identify key markets for expansion, not only at retailers but also for its Scoop Shop stores currently in Southern California.

By giving away free ice cream at activations in select cities, Halo Top can introduce the brand to potential new customers. Halo Top has been active with out-of-home (OOH) promotions this year, including the installation of pop-up drive-thrus in May to support its expansion in Canada. The company urged Canadians to enter their location into the Waze navigation app to find sponsored Halo Top pins that marked the drive-thru locations.

National Ice Cream Day and National Ice Cream Month, which President Ronald Reagan originally created as one-time observances in 1984, have expanded into major promotions for frozen treat brands. The U.S. ice cream industry supports $11 billion in economic activity and 26,000 jobs, per the International Dairy Foods Association. Brands must be prepared to handle the jump in customer volume around National Ice Cream Day, as burger chain McDonald's learned when its app crashed during a free offer of vanilla cones two years ago.

Before teaming up with Halo Top, Bumble has expanded its work with brands as the dating app seeks to monetize its user base of 60 million. While the app is free to use, it also has paid services including Bumble Boost and Bumble Coins that unlock more features to connect with others. The dating app in May partnered with Cointreau liqueur to host Margarita Monday events in select cities this summer. Such experiential events can help to deepen consumers' exposure to brands while giving Bumble users an activity to share with people they meet on the mobile platform.

Bumble last year partnered with Marriott International's Moxy Hotels to create "BumbleSpot #attheMoxy" experiences at some hotel locations. BumbleSpots are Bumble-verified places designated as inclusive for meeting connections made through the app. It's also sponsored events by HBO and Banana Republic and teamed with Serena Williams on a Super Bowl push to get in front of a broader range of potential users.