Ice cream treats and healthy living might not sound like the best of friends, but Bulla Dairy Food aims to change that with this summer’s 'Enjoy every Splits second' campaign.

To promote their range of Splits frozen treats, Bulla has launched a campaign aligning their brand with healthy summer activity and wholesome Aussie staples like sunny days at the beach and backyard sports. 

Significant to the overall campaign is an interactive social media component aimed at getting families active together over the hot summer months.  Bring on the Splits Summer Games—Bulla’s first push into the mobile app market.

Keep ‘em entertained

Active over 28 days from 9 January to 5 February, the Splits Summer Games app tries to answer the age-old question of how to keep your young kids healthily entertained over summer holidays. 

Once users download the free app via the Bulla website and register their details, Splits Summer Games utilises location and weather data to select and push through a duo of children’s games and activities each day – one indoor and one outdoor – designed to get families active together. 

To enhance usability, the app also boasts a built in stopwatch as well as a camera and gallery feature that allows users to record their fun and overlay the photos with colourful Splits filters. 

Demographics

While the campaign firmly targets the wallets of parents with young children, the key content is cleverly directed at the children themselves.

Split across the 4 – 8 and 9 – 12 years demographics, parents specify their desired age range at registration to ensure that all the suggested activities are age-appropriate.    

Treats for the kids – and mum and dad

Registration of the free app offers automatic eligibility to win the daily kid-friendly prize of a Slip N’ Slide, but the more substantial prizes require proof of purchase of a Splits pack.

Weekly iPad2 giveaways and a major prize of a family holiday to the United States (valued at up to $25,000) might just be enough to convince parents bring home some of the frozen treats, however. 

Getting social

The Splits Summer Games campaign has been supported with promotions across the full range of conventional media and PR, however there are few mentions of the app at the Splits Facebook page.

Considering the app has a camera component, perhaps a photo sharing aspect will be included in future versions.

Tech specs

The Splits Summer Games app currently requires an Android phone or device running version 2.2 or higher. While Bulla's website notes an iOS app will be available soon, the campaign ended on 5 February, so future users may miss out on competitions. Given the high take up of iOS mobile devices in Australia, the lack of an iOS app will have significant impact on the campaign's effectiveness.

Agencies

Splits Summer Games is an extension of the “Enjoy every Splits second” campaign designed by The Bridge for Bulla Dairy Foods. Grey, as digital agency, executed the application.  Amanda Blennerhassett of The Bridge says “we are Bulla's strategy/creative agency – we work in collaboration [with Grey] on some product categories where digital is involved.”

Fun in the sun?

The Splits app offers great entertainment and the opportunity to win fantastic prizes. An iOS version would ensure greater take-up. There are plenty of opportunities to amplify through social media channels including sharing pictures, and pushing out status updates.