Unveiling Bomb Pop's Winning Strategy: Captivating Tweens to Drive Sales
Bomb Pop successfully connects with tweens through strategic use of popular social media platforms like TikTok, Snapchat, and Roblox By leveraging these platforms, the brand effectively builds awareness and engages with its target audience, ultimately driving sales
Bomb Pop, the iconic frozen ice treat shaped like a rocket, has successfully boosted sales and awareness for its long-standing brand by implementing a revamped marketing approach. Instead of solely relying on traditional advertising, the brand has strategically redirected its media spend towards social media channels and incorporated a gaming strategy. This shift has allowed Bomb Pop to connect with its target demographic of tweens by immersing itself in platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat, and Roblox. As a result, the brand has experienced an impressive 26% year-over-year growth in sales and a noteworthy 10.5% increase in brand awareness.
Throughout, the emphasis has always been on converting digital engagement into actual purchases. To achieve this, we organized a social media campaign in collaboration with Gavin Casalegno from Amazon Prime's "The Summer I Turned Pretty" and artist Andrey Azizov. Our goal was to sell a range of Bomb Pop-inspired items, such as cameras, coolers, t-shirts, towels, and a volleyball, through a virtual pop-up store. To gain access to the product line, customers could simply scan the product with a Bomb Pop Snapchat Lens.
Santhi Ramesh, the chief commercial officer for Bomb Pop's parent company, Wells Enterprises, stated, "As the taste and interests of tweens constantly evolve, our strategy revolves around availability, connection, and innovation. We aim to be present where they naturally go, connect with them in appealing ways, and provide them with the freedom to express themselves and be true to who they are."
Brand mission
When it comes to marketing a summer seasonal product like a frozen treat, there are certain challenges to overcome. The pressure is to achieve a year's worth of goals within a short span of three months. Additionally, targeting tweens, who are known to be unpredictable and not necessarily repeat customers year after year, requires marketers to go the extra mile to remain adaptable. Bomb Pop has successfully tackled this challenge by capitalizing on unconventional media opportunities that do not come across as traditional advertising.
In July 2022, the brand achieved its highest July 4th sales ever through a unique media buy on TikTok. This involved combining a branded mission, hashtag challenge, and branded effect competition.
Building on this success, the brand then collaborated with Roblox to establish a presence within the popular game, Restaurant Tycoon 2. In conjunction with Moonrock Labs and Gale, the brand incorporated its distinctive three-color look into various in-game products. Additionally, players were able to sell the brand's treats as a product within the game. Over the course of the three-week campaign, players surpassed the brand's initial virtual sales goal of 20 million Bomb Pops by selling over 48 million.
“We recognize that tweens have a strong affinity for gaming, but the process of creating a game from the ground up requires a significant amount of time and effort. It was essential for us to ensure that we were providing added value,” stated Lindsey Brand, Gale's creative director. “By collaborating with Moonrock Labs and Roblox, we successfully integrated Bomb Pop into an existing game that tweens were already engrossed in. This integration didn't feel like traditional advertising to them, resulting in increased sales of Bomb Pops.”
Summer feeling
The brand and agency have achieved recent successes by thoroughly understanding their tween target audience, including closely monitoring their social media activity. They conduct research and analyze their interests, observing the content they post and react to, which provides valuable insights into their passion points.
Ramesh and Brand take into account the concerns regarding marketing to children and make sure that they collect information in an anonymous manner. Additionally, they ensure that the content they produce and share is used responsibly.
"We are not actively promoting content, rather we are making it accessible to them," explained Ramesh.
The agency and brand also greatly benefit from establishing strong relationships with digital platforms. This allows them to stay informed about and take advantage of new tools and advancements as they become available.
"We treat our collaborations with the platforms as genuine partnerships," Brand explained. "We strive to ensure that our activations are beneficial not only for our audiences but also for the platform itself."
Despite the approaching colder months, the brand is determined to maintain a strong momentum. Throughout the winter season, Bomb Pop intends to concentrate its efforts on warmer regions of the United States, urging consumers to indulge in a snack that rejuvenates the "summer feeling."
"We have pinpointed regions where summer persists all year long," Ramesh stated confidently. "Rather than focusing on places like Chicago, we aim to capture the attention of areas like Texas and Florida. Bomb Pop's sales in these regions are four times the national average, even in December. Therefore, it only makes sense to extend our marketing efforts beyond the end of September."
