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∆ Unilever - Good Humor-Breyers Ice Cream -                                      (marketing strategy and creative management)

Following new business development efforts, I began a relationship with Gold Bond-Good Humor Ice Cream in 1990, a local ice cream and novelties distributor who had been acquired by Unilver the previous year. Unilever, an Anglo-Dutch multinational corporation, was operating well-known consumer products companies such as Lipton, Lever, and Cheeseborough. Gold Bond-Good Humor produced and distributed brands such as Popsicle, Creamsicle, Good Humor, and was now poised to take a leading role in the category.

In 1993, Gold Bond-Good Humor capped off its aggressive acquisitions by adding Klondike to its impressive brand base. Also in that same year, the Gold Bond-Good Humor company purchased Breyers Ice Cream Company from Kraft (which included the Sealtest Brand), and changed the company name to Good Humor-Breyers Ice Cream. By combining Good Humor with Breyers Ice Cream Company, Unilever brought their most promising ice cream products under a single distribution and marketing strategy. They instantly became largest producer of both ice cream and frozen novelties in America. With an increasingly health conscious consumer base, Good Humor-Breyers has also developed new lines of fat free and sugar free ice cream. As an industry innovator, they developed patented processes used to produce such products as Viennetta, a ready-to-serve dessert of layered ice cream and chocolate.

My work with this company spanned over 15 years - beginning with a single project - to develop sales and marketing collateral for the grocery and convenience store trade. Successfully delivering the tools needed, the work expanded into trade advertising strategy for military, club store, and foodservice, as well as consumer advertising.

Initially, the goal was to help Gold Bond-Good Humor communicate to the trade and develop national awareness, positioning the company as a leader in the category. Distributers west of the Mississippi had never heard of Good Humor. The goal accomplished, more changes occurred - a new company name - Good Humor-Breyers - plus an impressive new brand lineup needed to be re-introduced to the trade. A commanding presence was established. With additional brand acquisitions, and increased awareness, GH-B grew to become the largest ice cream company in the world.

Delivering powerful marketing and media strategy, along with creative and effective support materials helped grow the company significantly. The work for Good Humor-Breyers expanded to include extensive product trade literature, trade advertising and media strategy, consumer print ads and FSIs to support TV advertising, company news magazines, sales incentive programs, sweepstakes and contests, development and launch of their first website, signage, POP, packaging support, and digital asset management.

∆ The power of outstanding account service, strategy and results propelled the account to become the agency's largest, generating 35% of total revenues. During the most active periods, I supervised 15 or more creative and production personnel, in addition to account support personnel.

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