Results at a glance
+85%
New Consumers
+73%
Bps Category Share
vs. Pre-Campaign Period
125M+
Impressions
Across Onsite and Offsite
A full-funnel partnership built to redefine snacking behavior
The Magnum Ice Cream Company partnered with DoorDash Ads to challenge how consumers think about ice cream, repositioning it as an everyday snack in moments traditionally dominated by chips, cookies, and candy. By combining DoorDash’s craving-driven consumer environment, Symbiosys-powered social amplification, and full-funnel media strategy, the campaign delivered strong new consumer acquisition, meaningful category share growth, and scaled reach across onsite and offsite channels.
The campaign also marked the first brand to activate across Symbiosys' full social suite with DoorDash, expanding Magnum Ice Cream’s reach across key snacking audiences and creating a connected path from offsite influence to onsite conversion.
Turning cravings into category growth
The Magnum Ice Cream Company, home to brands including Magnum, Ben & Jerry's, Talenti, and Yasso, saw an opportunity to expand beyond traditional dessert occasions and compete more directly in everyday snacking moments.
Rather than focusing solely on existing ice cream buyers, Magnum Ice Cream wanted to reach consumers already in a snacking mindset — people seeking indulgent, immediate gratification but not necessarily considering ice cream. The goal was to move ice cream beyond traditional dessert occasions and position it more competitively against categories like chips, cookies, and candy.
DoorDash offered a uniquely valuable environment to reach those consumers in real time. With shoppers browsing to satisfy immediate wants, the platform gave Magnum Ice Cream a way to influence decisions and capture demand at the point of purchase.
"The DoorDash consumer is meaningfully different — snacking behavior exists here in ways it doesn't on other channels, making it the perfect environment to convert snackers into ice cream shoppers." — Tony Patrignelli, Magnum Ice Cream
How Magnum Ice Cream leveraged DoorDash's full-funnel platform to win new customers
Magnum Ice Cream’s goal was to drive both new-to-brand (NTB) and new-to-category (NTC) growth by reaching consumers who were actively shopping for snacks, but not choosing ice cream.
To bring the strategy to life, Magnum Ice Cream partnered with DoorDash Ads and DoorDash Creative Studio on a coordinated, full-funnel marketing campaign designed to build awareness before consumers entered the DoorDash ecosystem and capture demand once they arrived.
The campaign combined upper-funnel offsite media — including CTV through Netflix Ads, online video across YouTube, paid social via Symbiosys across Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, and Pinterest, and CRM email touchpoints — with onsite Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Products ads to create a seamless journey from awareness to purchase.
The coordinated media strategy extended Magnum Ice Cream’s reach across social, streaming, and onsite environments, reinforcing messaging throughout the consumer journey.
"We saw an opportunity to do something we hadn't done before: a national, hyper-targeted, portfolio-first campaign built on clear consumer insight with a partner whose audience aligns perfectly. Ultimately, the goal was to change snacking behavior." — Tony Patrignelli, Magnum Ice Cream
Built around the creative platform "Must Ice Cream," the campaign reframed ice cream as an immediate, crave-worthy snack — not just a reserved dessert occasion — with bold creative rooted in comfort, indulgence, and impulse-driven moments.
By activating across streaming, video, and social environments, Magnum Ice Cream expanded ice cream into more frequent snacking occasions and stayed top of mind during key snacking moments. Once consumers landed on DoorDash, onsite ads reinforced the campaign message and streamlined conversion.
Rather than focusing on a single hero product, Magnum Ice Cream leveraged the breadth of its portfolio to reach incremental audiences, address different consumer needs, and drive both category entry and cross-brand trial.
Activated channels
Offsite
✓ CTV
✓ Online Video
✓ Paid Social
✓ CRM
Onsite
✓ Sponsored Products
✓ Sponsored Brands
Turning snackers into ice cream buyers
The campaign validated Magnum Ice Cream’s core hypothesis: with strong creative, sustained visibility, and a connected onsite experience, brands can influence consumer behavior in measurable ways.
Magnum Ice Cream saw +85% period-over-period growth in new consumers, +73 bps in category share, and 125M+ impressions across onsite and offsite. A significant share of campaign growth came from new-to-category consumers, demonstrating that the campaign expanded the category rather than simply increasing purchases among existing ice cream buyers.
Magnum Ice Cream demonstrated that meaningful category growth comes from creating demand, not simply capturing existing intent. By pairing Symbiosys-powered offsite influence with onsite conversion through DoorDash Ads, Magnum Ice Cream expanded ice cream’s role within everyday snacking occasions, reaching new consumers and influencing behavior in moments traditionally dominated by other snack categories.
