In February 2024, Magnum invited British consumers to eat ice cream, despite it being winter. It deseasonalized the consumption of its product with the “Find your summer” platform, which, among many other recognitions, won a Grand Prix in the Outdoor category at the Cannes Lions that year. Now the brand is expanding that effort with the “Schedule the Sun” campaign.
With the help of the Lola Madrid agency – called Lola Mullenlowe before the restructuring of Omnicom after the purchase of IPG -, the brand tries to stand up to the slowdown in demand in the ice cream category with a new action that links the sun with the enjoyment of Magnum through promotions and discounts.
The campaign continues to link the sun with the enjoyment of Magnum
On this occasion, the brand The Magnum Ice Cream Company – a recently created company born from the spin-off of Unilever’s ice cream business – offers discounts in exchange for choosing to receive automatic calendar reminders when sunshine is forecast in the user’s area. These notifications include discounts of two pounds for each of the 5,000 coupons that Magnum has created for the initiative. With this, according to the agency in a statement, it becomes “a fleeting winter craving in a scheduled indulgence”.
“In the next few days, when the sun rises, you will receive an email with a discount to enjoy a Magnum“, comments the brand in the email it sends once the form is completed. “Even if the London sun disappoints you, you will receive your coupon because you can always find your summer with a Magnum”, he explains, anticipating that users will obtain discounts even with an unfavorable weather situation.
Black and white. Lights and shadows
All of this is communicated, as was the case with “Find your summer”, with a creativity that challenges the usual visual and narrative codes in the category. Magnum maintains the visual identity that defined that campaign and once again opts for black and white, as well as the play of light and shadow, to dramatically highlight the recognizable silhouette of its ice creams, a resource that has been constant in its communication over the years.
The campaign includes six short videos, made by directors Leslie Zhang and Da Dongy through the production company Lunar Films Shanghai. In the style of filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, the pieces create artistic compositions using rays of winter light and shadows to trace shapes that evoke Magnum’s ice creams and suggest the warmth of summer, the main consumption period for the category.
Along with the videos, “Schedule the Sun” also features a series of six photographs, taken by Leslie Zhang. The graphics, in addition to showing figures that, in one way or another, connect with the shape of the brand’s ice cream between lights and shadows, include a QR code that invites consumers to register in the notification system and obtain discounts.
“With ‘Schedule the Sun’, Magnum revolutionizes the “Find your summer” platform while maintaining its distinctive identity“said Goze Iscan, Global Vice President at The Magnum Ice Cream Company, in a statement. “Produced entirely in black and white, the work captures the rays of winter sun that fall on various characters, celebrating the fleeting moments of warmth that ‘Schedule the Sun’ invites you to enjoy.”.
For his part, Tomás Ostiglia, Executive Creative Director at Lola Madrid, assures that the idea for the campaign arose from an insight that remains: ice cream sales decrease in winter, but the desire for pleasure does not. “This new chapter builds on that platform by turning sunlight into something people can enjoy. Not just a feeling, but a reason to enjoy”, he pointed out.
As confirmed to us from Lola to reason.Whythe campaign was launched on Friday, February 27 in London (United Kingdom) and will do so this week in France, coinciding with Paris Fashion Week. It will also be activated soon in China. It has executions on social networks, digital platforms, outdoor advertising and press. Specifically, it is activated in Vogue in France, and Thank you and Guardian in the United Kingdom.
Following the path begun with “Find your Summer”, “Schedule the sun” continues to redefine summer as a sensation and not as a season, associating it with Magnum ice cream as a lever for enjoyment and indulgence. The campaign reinforces the idea that summer is found in the small everyday moments, regardless of the season.
