Case Study: Ben & Jerry’s achieves scalable, hyper‑realistic virtual photography with Adobe Substance 3D Stager

How Ben & Jerry’s is leading the virtual photography revolution

Ben & Jerry’s faced a sudden marketing and operational challenge when the COVID‑19 pandemic forced scoop shops to close and shifted customers toward delivery. To launch a global Food Pairings campaign across 38 markets with 150+ flavors, the company needed thousands of convincing product photos to build trust in delivery—yet traditional studio shoots were impossible or impractical.

The team turned to Adobe Substance 3D Stager and the broader Adobe Experience Cloud (Creative Cloud, Stock, Analytics, Audience Manager, Target) to create hyper‑realistic virtual photography, combining 3D pint renderings with a few 360° backplates from a limited shoot. The approach cut production time dramatically (what would’ve taken a year into three months), eliminated many shoot costs, enabled massive personalization at scale, saved hundreds of labor hours and thousands of dollars per month, and helped drive 50% growth in delivery app downloads.

Ben & Jerry’s

Gail Cummings

Global Digital Design Lead