Ice, Custard, Happiness -- and Social Media

"Ice, Custard, Happiness" is the slogan for Rita's Italian Ice, but "Give them something to talk about" could be the mantra for its social media efforts. With this year's First Day of Spring promotion, the frozen-treats chain gave customers plenty to chat about, especially on Facebook. As a result, in less than three weeks Rita's gained more than 100,000 new Facebook fans. Rita's already had a robust Facebook page prior to this year's spring event. Fans "can't wait to tell you what they think of Rita's and their favorite product," says Katie Hooper, account supervisor for Lorel, the agency that works with Rita's. "We were trying to harness that sort of passion, and we felt that Facebook gave us the right platform."