Got
Milk? Campaign Goes IPad, SMS
by Karlene Lukovitz,
The iconic,
15-year-old "Got Milk?"/milk-mustachioed celebrity campaign is moving
with the times by using new digital channels and their interactive/rich media
capabilities.
The campaign's two
most recent celebrity marketing efforts are appearing as print ads, as usual.
But in addition, one interactive version (featuring St. Louis Cardinals star
player Albert Pujols) is being featured in Sports Illustrated's new iPad
edition, and the other (featuring Lauren Conrad of TV shows "The
Hills" and "
"Continuing
to make the 'Got Milk?' campaign stimulating and exciting has always been an
important goal for us, and the advent of various new media channels has
challenged us to think differently about how to connect with our various
consumer groups most effectively," sums up Vivien Godfrey, CEO of the Milk
Processor Education Program (MilkPEP), which manages the multifaceted marketing
program for its milk-processor sponsors.
The new digitally
based efforts cost-effectively make use of opportunities to film new Got Milk?
(a/k/a "Milk Mustache") campaign stars while they're being shot for
print ads, explains Sal Taibi, partner/general manager of Deutsch Inc., who has
led the agency's management of the integrated campaign since its inception.
The Pujols iPad ad
version -- which placed MilkPEP among the first round of advertisers in SI's
first iPad issue (released June 24), along with AT&T, Sprint, Lexus,
Toyota, Nissan, Gatorade and others -- offers, for example, video of the
baseball star explaining the reasons that he makes milk part of his training
nutrition regimen.
Prior to the
iPad's launch, MilkPEP had been working with Pujols to star in a "Got
Milk?" print ad as part of its outreach to young males/ male teens (the
campaign regularly encompasses various ads targeted to specific audience
segments, including moms with growing kids, as well as young/teen males and
females, and Hispanic market segments), Godfrey tells Marketing Daily.
As a regular SI print advertiser, the debut of the iPad device and SI's
plan to launch its iPad edition happened to present a "great"
opportunity to achieve "richer, deeper engagement" with the target
audience, she says.
Meanwhile, text
messaging is enabling MilkPEP to offer female teens access to an exclusive
video of Conrad (by snapping a photo of the ad with their smartphones and
texting to get immediate video access in return). Again, the video drives home
the milk-is-cool message, with the actress/fashion designer explaining why milk
is a favorite beverage.
As usual, MilkPEP
is running the celebrity print ads in numerous vehicles (the Pujols ad is
appearing in ESPN Magazine, Boy's Life, Rolling Stone, gaming titles and
comics among others, while the Conrad ad first appeared in USA Today and
is also appearing in People, Girl's Life, Rolling Stone and several key
teen magazines).
In addition, the
availability of the iPad/text messaging interactive media efforts are being
promoted via online advertising on a variety of sites heavily trafficked by
teens, including Facebook and MyYearbook.com, plus sites specifically geared to
male teens and female teens. (MilkPEP also has five of its own sites, each
dedicated to serving a different milk-marketing target audience.)
MilkPEP/Deutsch
won't try to go back and use previous Got Milk? print ad celebs for new
digital/rich media efforts (in part for practical, contractual reasons), says
Godfrey. However, she and Taibi report that new creative underway and developed
going forward will definitely incorporate the interactive/rich-media
capabilities and seek to use what is learned from these initial efforts to
expand and hone the campaign's effectiveness at reaching/engaging consumers via
new channels/formats.
For
more information visit www.mediapost.com
