Ben & Jerry’s new “From Cow-to-Cone” site mixes Flash video, animation, graphics and sound effects to deliver a unique educational – and branding – experience.
Ben & Jerry’s is not exactly traditional, and that’s true not only
for its iconoclastic flavors of ice cream, including Cherry Garcia and Chunky
Monkey, but also when it comes to building a Web site aimed at offering visitors
a unique educational – and branding – experience.
Vermont-based Ben & Jerry’s was looking for a way to build up its
brand and decided to post an educational site – called “From Cow to Cone” – to explain to visitors how its ice cream is made. The ice cream
maker wanted to include everything in the ice cream-making process, from shots
of the cows that provide the milk, to workers adding flavoring at the factory,
right to the trucks delivering the treats to the store.
The company decided the best way to ensure the site was fun, interactive
and interesting was to base it on Macromedia’s Flash video.
“We&singlequot;re a super-premium brand that uses the highest quality ingredients to
make our ice cream, so it makes sense to use the highest quality tools for
developing our website as well," said Nancy Stoddard, IT marketing integration
manager for Ben & Jerry&singlequot;s. "When charged with bringing our unique "Cow To
Cone" process to life, we looked no further than Macromedia Studio MX 2004 and
Flash video. The result is a site that&singlequot;s chunk full of fun and informative for
our visitors."
For example, Stoddard said that all bitmap editing and image
optimizations were performed in Fireworks MX 2004, while video, design and site
elements were authored in Flash MX Professional 2004. Her team then used
Dreamweaver to pull the entire project together.
Because the site is based on Flash video, it’s easier to keep up to date,
Stoddard said. Ben & Jerry’s used ActionScript 2.0 and XML to create a
framework for updates. This means that new video content can be added via a Ben
& Jerry’s-developed custom, reusable video component and by updating an XML
file. And since the Flash video streams require nothing more than the Flash
player, which is installed on more than 90% of user desktops today, visitors to
the site can simply sit back and enjoy the experience, she said. The video
simply streams, with no end-user intervention required.
The result is a fun, interesting, enjoyable experience that further
strengthens the Ben & Jerry’s brand. For more information, visit the site
here.
Web Design 
