Zimmerman Advertising

ZIMMERMAN CREATES AN 'ICE CREAM WORLD' FOR FRIENDLY'S
Press Release - July 29, 2008
FT. LAUDERDALE, FLA. – July 18, 2008 – The creative minds at Zimmerman Advertising, the country’s leading national retail brand builder and its 14th largest advertising agency, debut its latest TV spot for client Friendly’s with a fantastically imagined “Ice Cream World.”

Part of an integrated campaign, the :30 spot hits TV with a candy-colored, live action/animation mash-up that starts in a booth at one of the restaurant chain’s 519 stores. A family of four enjoying an array of signature frozen treats quickly morphs into an Willy Wonka-esque musical imaginary world of ice cream-centered sunflowers, colorful dragonflies composed of ice cream, a baseball game played with flying multicolored jimmie candies and bleachers full of gummi bears, soaring chocolate peanut butter Frisbees, ice cream trees along a chocolate river sailed by banana-split boats that colorfully drop the family back into their booth with empty sundae glasses. The tagline that ends the spot is, “Friendly’s. Where ice cream makes the meal.”

“Friendly’s is a brand that must be re-invigorated,” says Michael Goldberg, Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer for Zimmerman. “At its very core, even with competitive pressure coming from every angle, ice cream is who they are and what they do. Our goal was to show how an ice cream experience truly connects for the company -- that is, ice cream connects desserts to meals and people to each other. Even more, ice cream connects Friendly’s to the authentic experience it can deliver beyond that of any other restaurant. In the end, we believe ‘Ice Cream World’ will connect Friendly’s to success – increases in customer counts and comp store sales.”

“To us it was impossible to fathom summer without Friendly’s ice cream. The two ideas really needed to occupy the same space in the customer’s mind, and that’s what the creative was designed to accomplish” says David Nathanson, Executive Vice President, Executive Creative Director at Zimmerman. “Suddenly, a dessert spoon wasn’t just a spoon –– it was a key to the magic of summer, and all the specialness that comes with it.”

“Ice Cream World” is comprised of TV, print, digital, website, radio, mobile billboards, cinema, direct mail, promotional events, samplings and local market activation. The most recent was a “free ice cream day” nationwide event on June 7th that was supported by local radio stations in all of Friendly’s markets.

Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Zimmerman Advertising, an Omnicom Group™ company, is the country’s leading national retail brand builder, and the 14th largest advertising agency in the United States, with more than 1,100 full-time associates and offices throughout the country, including New York, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco and Atlanta.

Omnicom Group (NYSE: OMC) is a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom's branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 100 countries.