Klondike extends 'What Would You Do' messaging with Twitter dare

Brief:

Klondike, the ice cream bar brand owned by Unilever, extended a campaign that resurrects its signature "What Would You Do for a Klondike Bar?" catchphrase with a dare for Twitter users, according to details shared with Mobile Marketer.
Following a push starring actress Anna Farris that debuted in the spring, Klondike asked people to change their Twitter names for a chance to win a lifetime supply of its bars. Twitter users could enter by changing their display names to "Klondike" by Aug. 12 and retweeting an announcement from the brand with the hashtag #IAmaKlondike.
The reward will consist of 52 product coupons and a check for $17,500, per the contest rules. Klondike brought back its "What Would You Do" messaging strategy in April after a seven-year pause.

Insight:

Klondike's extension of its campaign with Faris aims to reach a younger generation of consumers who are more likely to use social media than to spend time watching TV.

Like Wendy's, the burger chain that taunts other brands on Twitter, Klondike is tweeting to the accounts of other companies, challenging them to participate in the #IAmaKlondike promotion.

@tacobell want to open your own Choco Taco Bell? https://t.co/EkwHyaT2Io
— Klondike (@Klondikebar) August 9, 2019

The push, timed around the tail-end of the summer season, likely will appeal to consumers who have shown a propensity to engage with humorous tweets from brands on Twitter and other social platforms.

Klondike's retail sales in the U.S. increased 0.1% to $309.9 million in the year ended March 24, while the overall frozen novelties segment rose 5.8% to about $4.06 billion, per IRI data cited in Ad Age. The social media challenge indicates that its prior work with Faris resonated with its target audience.

Earlier this year, the actress appeared in hidden-camera videos where she confronted people with the brand's longtime challenge of "What Would You Do for a Klondike Bar?" while wearing disguises. A spot called "Baby Name," for example, showed Faris dressed as a market researcher who asked expecting couples to sign over the naming rights to their baby for a lifetime supply of Klondike Bars.

Stunt campaigns have the power to go viral on social media platforms as people dare others to participate in off-beat activities. In a similar campaign from March, JetBlue offered a year of free travel to three Instagram users who deleted all their posts on the app in order to "create a blank slate."