Ronald Reagan, Jack Donaghy and Jelly Belly

U.S. presidents don't endorse products while still in office, but Ronald Reagan came as close to a celebrity spokesman for Jelly Belly as anyone else in the company's history. Jelly Belly even offered a special deal "fit for a commander-in-chief" to commemorate Reagan's 100th birthday in February. Even more recently the game show "Jeopardy" featured a question about Jelly Belly jelly beans (3.5 tons worth) being served at Reagan's 1981 inaugural festivities, 30 years after the event.

In a related move, Jelly Belly also served as the sponsor for the Ronald
Reagan Centennial float at this year's 122nd Annual Rose Parade, issuing
press release to announce the deal.

As mentioned in a previous post, singer Kina Graniss is Jelly Belly's most visible celebrity spokesman, and her video for "In Your Arms," made with 288,000 Jelly Belly jelly beans, is featured prominently on Jelly Belly's Facebook fan page. Not surprisingly, Jelly Belly products were included at the launch party for the single and photos were posted on the Facebook wall.

"In Your Arms" video director Greg Jardin (with tie)

and the video's designers and production team.

One strategy that Jelly Belly seems to rely on more than celebrity endorsement is product placement, both direct and indirect. Whether its a deal on "Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans" linked to the DVD release of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" or luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman's window display made entirely of jelly beans on NYC's Fifth Avenue, Jelly Belly's integration and visibility would make even GE Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming Jack Donaghy proud.

While not an official celebrity endorser, comedian/musician "Weird Al" Yankovic appears in the recently released documentary, "Candyman: The David Klein Story," which chronicles "the epic rise and fall of Mr. Jelly Belly." In one scene, Yankovic is seen tasting a Jelly Belly flavor with Klein, an action that can only be interpreted as an endorsement. Celebrities are too protective of their own brands and images to get involved with products they don't use or enjoy.  

Despite a strong social media presence for Jelly Belly, it's harder to find in the blogosphere. Several bloggers write regularly about the company and its products, including CandyBlog, which recently discussed the new Jelly Belly Mint Jelly Bean Chocolate Dips (the blogger was not a fan), but Jelly Belly Cycling seemed to be the only steady presence, particularly with its informative and regularly updated Twitter page. My guess is that, as Bhargava discusses, "blogging is not right for every business" and Jelly Belly feels it has gained enough ground in other social media and doesn't need to blog.

Jelly Belly does a great job of leveraging social media to promote and market its products and its brand identity is the envy of many, but I think Jelly Belly would benefit from a corporate blog aimed at retaining existing employees and attracting new talent. There's all kinds of information about the company, its history, products and interactive offerings like plant tours, but the "Careers" section of their Web site is the exact opposite of Jelly Belly itself - colorless and bland.

Prospective employees would like to know if working at Jelly Belly is as exciting and different an experience as its 50 gourmet jelly bean flavors. Though the Web site says Jelly Belly "thrive(s) on the company's rich diversity of personalities and ethnic and cultural backgrounds and seek special individuals who demonstrate potential," without examples that's just corporate-speak.

Surely Jelly Belly could follow Bhargava's advice to "think outside the CEO and senior members" and find some employees who'd be willing to share their personalities, as well as their experiences as Jelly Belly employees, with outside stakeholders. If they did, I'm sure they'd solidify their customer loyalty as well as attract new talent to their workforce.