Winter has always been a historical low season for the whole Ice Cream category. When January arrives and temperatures outside start hitting a maximum of 1.0ºC1 on average in the UK, people start eating less and less ice cream.

As the category leader, Magnum’s business has been affected by this challenging reality year after year, with Magnum’s penetration in the UK dropping almost 10% from August to January (August 2022 13.1% vs January 2023 4.1%)2.

More than a business challenge, this was a leadership challenge.

Because, if there is one brand that can lead a movement to start changing this seasonality, this brand is Magnum.

And that was what we did.

1 UK Government Met Office - January 2024 Monthly Weather Report

2 Magnum Europanel Q4’2023

The creative use of data in this campaign was instrumental in enhancing the overall creative output. By leveraging real-time information about the sun's position in various cities worldwide, the campaign team was able to strategically deploy digital billboards in locations where the sun was currently shining. This data-driven approach not only ensured relevance but also increased the effectiveness of the campaign by providing timely and accurate information to bystanders. Additionally, the data enabled the team to personalize the messaging by offering nearby locations where the sun was spotted, creating a sense of connection and immediacy for the audience. Furthermore, by incorporating push notifications, the campaign facilitated direct engagement with potential consumers, prompting them to take action by purchasing an ice cream at a nearby store. Overall, the creative integration of data enhanced the campaign's impact, ensuring that it resonated with the target audience.

Once we obtained the information about the sun's position in any city around the world, all we needed to do was to set up several digital billboards and ensure to adapt that information to provide nearby locations to bystanders where the sun was spotted, so they would know where to find the sun in the middle of winter. Additionally, we sent push notifications so they could buy an ice cream at a nearby store.

As part of our Find your Summer campaign, we placed digital billboards that tracked every sunny spot in the city. Thanks to real-time data of the sun’s position, we were able to encourage people to enjoy those little moments of sunshine in the winter near them.

These billboards showed the location and time where people could find those spots.

Every billboard also had beacons that sent geo-located push notifications to let people know the nearest store where they could buy a Magnum with a discount.

When the outside weather gets colder and starts telling you it’s not okay to eat ice cream, Magnum went and said the opposite. And people listened.

More than inspiring people to find a piece of sun during the harsh cold, Find Your Summer successfully invited people to indulge into the pleasure of a Magnum when they need it the most.

For the first time, Magnum won winter time and had the best January in history in terms of sales, with an increase of +66.3% value sales for Magnum Core range (Classic, White Chocolate and Almond) and +38.9% value sales uplift for Total Magnum, due to the halo effect on all other Magnum’s flavours and Innovations (limited edition flavours and other ranges in the portfolio, such as Magnum Double Caramel Billionaire)1.

1 Nielsen Ad Impact Study, 06/01/24 to 17/02/24