A milk drinking caveman and a glass of chocolate milk that gets no respect are two approaches the dairy industry has adopted in attempts to encourage Canadians to drink more milk.”Our real challenge was that milk had lost its luster,” said Katherine Loughlin of Alberta Milk. “It was an old product that had been around for years.”
Dairy groups on the Prairies have joined forces to promote dairy products to teenagers after surveys suggested that young people said “milk is for babies.”
The campaign to promote milk and cheese mainly through television ads, was aimed at young people aged nine to 17 years. It used lifestyle commercials speaking the language of teenagers. Followups showed the teens were hearing the subtle message.
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As well, young people reacted positively to posters on bus ceilings and cinemas and a website with activities and contests to win a dream life experience.
The result was a 9.4 percent increase in retail sales in the fiercely competitive beverage market, she told the Dairy Farmers of Canada annual meeting July 18.
On the lighter side, a promotion for chocolate milk emphasized that the product is more than a treat because it contains the same nutrients as regular milk.
Television commercials featured a glass of chocolate milk on a psychiatrist’s couch complaining it received no respect.
The result was a 25 percent increase in milk sales during the campaign.
In British Columbia multiple promotions have been launched in conjunction with the province’s campaign to promote healthy living leading up to the winter Olympics in Vancouver in 2010, said Robin Smith, executive director of the B.C. Dairy Foundation.
One of the most popular campaigns was known as “survival of the fittest” in which a modern day caveman thinks about the poor decisions that doomed his race in the past and becomes a smarter, health conscious caveman who drinks milk.
The series won a gold medal at the International Dairy Innovations Awards in Amsterdam last year and the commercial spots have been sold to other countries.
In addition, the B.C. health ministry gave the foundation $850,000 to place refrigerators in elementary schools. So far 215 units have been installed.
Milk martini
At high schools, a scratch and win program offering prizes was offered and milk producers sponsored fuel bars in schools where milk drinks in martini glasses were sold at school dances.
“They’re thinking of milk as a fun drink, not just the boring old white stuff,” Smith said.
Another approach is to promote milk in coffee bars for lattes.
Increasing dairy consumption is part of a larger national campaign to spend $57 million on dairy promotion in specific markets, said Ian McDonald, director of marketing for the Dairy Farmers of Canada.
