Ice Cream Social

April 23, 2023

Hult, April 20 2023

It’s always a pleasure to talk to Shelley Mitchell’s students at Hult International University!

April 25, 2022

It’s great to be back in the classroom. Last week (April 21) I visited Shelley Mitchell’s two classes at Hult International Business School’s Boston campus in person, after two years of Zoom visits, which aren’t nearly as good. The students spend several weeks reporting on each chapter of the book and discussing the issues in the story: board governance, shareholder primacy vs. stakeholder capitalism, and the innovative agreement that preserved the three-part mission of Ben & Jerry’s when it was sold to Unilever. It’s inspiring to spend time with such intelligent, engaged people. Thank you!

December 12, 2019

Hult International Business School

Shelley Mitchell (front, center) invited Brad to talk to her Socially Responsible Business class at Hult International Business School in Cambridge, MA on December 5. The class spent several weeks reading and discussing Ice Cream Social; Brad came to the wrap-up and got a chance to answer questions.

November 29, 2018

Contest Winners Commence Gorging

Congratulations to Bernadette Hopen, Azure Qian Yu, Teresa Engebretson, and Asami Tanimoto, who each won five coupons good for one free pint of Ben & Jerry’s! The contest was part of Net Impact’s 2018 conference, where 2000 sustainability-minded students gathered in in Phoenix, Arizona for two inspiring days of speakers and networking. Berrett Koehler, publisher…

October 24, 2018

New CEO Welcomed By New Board Chair

Ben & Jerry’s got a new Chief Executive and a new chair of its independent Board of Directors this summer. Unilever veteran Matthew McCarthy succeeded Jostein Solheim as CEO in August, and Anuradha Mittal took over from Jeff Furman as chair of the board. McCarthy is the former vice president of Unilever Food North America. …

December 9, 2016

Activism As Brand Identity

In a new article in B Magazine, I look at Ben & Jerry’s corporate strategy to turn its customers into social activists. A lot of good things have happened at the company since Ice Cream Social was published three years ago, and the article brings you up to date on some of the most exciting…

September 9, 2016

Managing Ten Million Conversations At Once

You can find Ben & Jerrys in the freezers of about 40 million US households. About ten million of these contain “fans” who connect with the company by liking it on Facebook or following it on Twitter, Snapchat, or some other social media platform. Keeping those fans engaged and encouraging them to carry on…