“The Freezer” by Dairy Queen
How can you maximize excitement for the return of fan-favorite Blizzard treats? Building hype with The Freezer project by Dairy Queen.
Url: https://www.dairyqueen.com/en-us/dq-freezer/
Research: Stakeholder Interviews, Competitive Analysis
Tools: Adobe XD, Microsoft Excel, Google Docs, Microsoft Teams
Executive Summary
Problem Space
Dairy Queen has a rich history, particularly with their signature Blizzard frozen treats. Over the years many types of Blizzards have been introduced and retired, and some of those discontinued flavors have become fan-favorites. Dairy Queen wanted to create a special program, called The Freezer, which would periodically bring back discontinued Blizzard flavors. A marketing campaign had been developed, but their website needed a landing page created for the Freezer to generate hype and provide useful information for curious site visitors.
Our Approach
Using the marketing campaign, which utilized a “spy thriller” motif as inspiration, we chose to create a landing page that utilized custom graphics, motion-based effects and unique widgets to elevate the Freezer page from other landing pages on the DQ site and give it a fun, playful and special presentation to site visitors.
Research
Stakeholder Interviews
Interviews were conducted with three groups of internal stakeholders to ensure the success of this project. First, from senior marketing executives in charge of the Freezer program, we learned what the program was intended to be, how it would be marketed and the general release cadence. From the DQ site’s webmaster, we learned that their CMS would allow easy updates to the landing page as new products were announced, and that our landing page would be given priority for development. From DQ’s web development partner, we made plans for implementing key aspects of the page’s design, which will be discussed in more detail shortly.
Competitive Analysis
From there we embarked on a competitive audit of similar types of limited release programs. The most similar program, which provided great context towards messaging and presentation, was the Disney Vault, which is a system that allows for limited re-release of their animated films catalog, typically onto new formats.
The Disney Vault was a textbook example of a company successfully marketing a limited release program
Design
Early Concepts
Our first concepts blended the spy thriller motif with custom retro throwback product cards, which would feature pop culture references and art styles from the year or time period the Blizzard had initially been released. We also introduced the concept of allowing the freezer doors to dynamically open and reveal the new releases once a countdown timer had hit zero.
Wireframing
As we had worked with Dairy Queen on other parts of their site, we already had a robust style guide built out in Adobe XD along with a large suite of components including buttons, product cards and more. I found that skipping the low fidelity step and working in medium fidelity made the process run more smoothly. After running through our initial concepts, we settled in on the spy thriller motif and began incorporating the major design elements into the wireframes.
Three Phases
We elected to create three phases for the Freezer landing page: a one-time-only teaser page consisting of just the freezer doors and a countdown timer, a release page that unveils the new treats, and a post-release page that brings back the timer and teases the next round of Freezer releases.
The Freezer site currently rotates between the post-launch teaser (above) and the release page
Fun and Whimsy
We particularly wanted to capture the tongue-in-cheek fun of the marketing campaign, and devised several custom widgets that aren’t found anywhere else on the Dairy Queen site.
(1) The hero banner features an accurate countdown timer that evokes your favorite spy thrillers.
(2) The freezer doors open dynamically when treats are made available.
(3) The next batch of treats are teased with “censored” images so users can’t see what flavors they will be
Education
Based on early customer feedback, we devised an FAQ section to address questions about the Freezer. In particular, some customers weren’t sure whether there would be physical freezers installed in stores where they could pick up the new treats. The FAQ answered these and other questions in order to deliver the best possible experience.
Results
The Freezer has been an ongoing success for Dairy Queen, who have produced a number of ads including tv spots starring Ashley Simpson, and has released a number of beloved Blizzard flavors. The site is still going strong and doing its job of teasing, hyping and releasing old favorites on a regular basis.
