In 2010, Ben and Jerry’s promoted awareness of fair trade through their “Do a World a Flavor” campaign. More than 10,000 new flavors were submitted, and the finalists won a trip to the Dominican Republic to visit a sustainable fair trade cocoa farm. Even though eliciting customers to come up with new flavors is nothing new to the Ben & Jerry’s brand, the “Do a World a Flavor” contest is part of their new campaign to transition all their products to fair trade by 2013.

Can established brands use their large customer base, also known as “fan base,” to effectively spread awareness about a worldly issue? I wish I could quantify exactly how much of an impact Ben & Jerry’s campaign had on its fan base. Stats I would be interested in: how many people heard about the “Do a World a Flavor” contest, how many people were introduced to the fair trade model through this campaign, how many people were reintroduced to the fair trade model, how many people educated themselves further about fair trade because of this campaign, and perhaps most significantly, how many people actually did something tangible to contribute to advancing fair trade (whether it be buying fair trade products, donating, or creating something of their own).

Let’s step back and look at the ramifications of this campaign in detail. For Ben & Jerry’s, the campaign was clearly a win-win for them. They engaged their fan base to contribute their own ideas, building customer loyalty and giving the creating back to the consumer. This large-scale effort (remember, 10,000 new flavors were submitted) would not be possible without social media and the Internet.

This campaign also helps accelerate the momentum of their fair trade transition. From an economics standpoint, most consumers won’t base their decisions on which ice cream to buy based on whether something is from fair trade or not. Consumer tastes and prices trump. However, by getting the fair trade message out through a creative, fun way to Ben & Jerry’s fans, they’re raising awareness of the global campaign and their own campaign, in a non-intruding, positive way.