There’s a reason you might not understand that edgy advertising video that signs off “Never Stop. Milk.”
It wasn’t designed for adults.
The prairie provinces, through the Prairie Milk Marketing Partnership, designed their marketing campaign around youth aged nine to 17.
“These kids are traditionally heavy milk users,” said Katherine Loughlin, market development manager at Alberta Milk. “But milk is often their last choice of beverage.
“We want to convince them that milk is a lifetime beverage.”
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The award winning “Always Grow. Grow All Ways. Never stop. Milk” campaign was launched in 2003.
Lorraine Rankin of the Dairy Farmers of Saskatchewan said the ads depict the good, the bad and the ugly of teenage life. They celebrate all teenagers who are confident in themselves.
The advertising isn’t preachy and focuses on peer-to-peer messaging. It shows a “clear connection between milk and building strong bodies and minds.”
Eighty-four percent of youth surveyed saw the video message and remembered it.
Sales increased by 5.8 million litres and one-third of youth reported reaching for milk after viewing the video ads.
Jason Brandes of Dairy Farmers of Manitoba said volume has increased by 18 percent since 2003. That equates to 55.6 million litres.
“This year, our sales are up 2.5 percent,” he said.
Now that the first kids targeted are getting older, the challenge will be to maintain them as milk drinkers.
“The campaign needs to continually evolve,” he said, noting a new ad will be launched in September.
The campaign also extends to online contests, with this year’s Experience Life contest resulting in more than 67,000 entries and 11 million milk cartons. The winning carton moos when opened.
The partnership has also boosted consumption of chocolate milk through its program promoting the benefits to muscle recovery after sports. Rankin said 33 percent of people now report they drink chocolate milk after sports.
