Unicorn Campaign: Clementine’s Creamery with Jim Harper

2025-08-01

What happens when a micro creamery with punk rock roots turns its 10-year anniversary into a full-blown cultural campaign? In this episode of Unicorn Campaigns, host Jake Tlapek sits down with Jim Harper, Chief Marketing Officer of Clementine’s Ice Cream, to unpack one of the most unforgettable brand activations you’ve never heard of. From a rock hitting his window at the top of the episode to tales of gooey butter cake and vinyl records, Jim shares how Clementine’s has scaled from a single location to a network of micro cream...

What happens when a micro creamery with punk rock roots turns its 10-year anniversary into a full-blown cultural campaign? In this episode of Unicorn Campaigns, host Jake Tlapek sits down with Jim Harper, Chief Marketing Officer of Clementine’s Ice Cream, to unpack one of the most unforgettable brand activations you’ve never heard of.

From a rock hitting his window at the top of the episode to tales of gooey butter cake and vinyl records, Jim shares how Clementine’s has scaled from a single location to a network of micro creameries while maintaining their hand-crafted identity. But the real highlight? Their anniversary campaign, “Tasty Tracks on Wax”—a vinyl record featuring 12 original songs about ice cream, created by St. Louis artists and distributed to customers. The result was less about direct ROI and more about becoming part of people’s lives—and their living rooms.

Jake and Jim also explore:

🍨 The difference between a creamery and a micro creamery.
🎶 How experiential marketing becomes brand permanence.
📈 Why sometimes, Facebook (yes, really) still pulls massive local weight.
📦 How Clementine’s leverages Goldbelly to go national.
📊 The evolving role of data and media agility in retail marketing.

If you’re a brand builder, product marketer, or just want to geek out about ice cream and integrated campaigns that break the mold, this episode is your jam.

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