The year of the cow - dairy products advertising and promotion - includes related articles - Marketing

Dairy Foods,  Dec, 1993  by Jeff Reiter

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

Dairy advertising and promotion was more bovine than ever in 1993

Earlier this year, we identified a "back to the barnyard" trend in dairy packaging. New carton designs featuring farm scenes and even black and white Holstein spots suddenly started popping up everywhere. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that some of this year's most memorable advertising and promotion efforts also had a strong bovine influence. And why not? Consumers still seem to get a kick out of cows--both real and animated--and many dairies still believe there's no better symbol for connoting freshness.

Elsie the cow, of course, is more than a symbol; she's a dairy icon. But some advertising gurus were surprised when Borden Inc. kicked off a $20-million TV and print campaign in March featuring the company's trademark character, albeit with an updated look including "bolder, brighter eyes and smaller horns." Elsie was created 57 years ago but, until 1993, hadn't appeared in advertising for nearly 20 years.

Some ad critics questioned Borden's decision to take Elsie out of retirement, saying the character holds no meaning for the younger consumers that Borden's troubled dairy division needs to attract. "Even Borden's private research shows that consumers under 40 wouldn't know Elsie the cow from Felix the Cat," the Wall Street Journal wrote. On the other hand, Borden's strategy of using Elsie to unify its various dairy brands is hard to fault. The dairy needed something to bring continuity to its Borden, Lite Line, Lady Borden, Viva and Meadow Gold product lines. Besides, Elsie still has appeal. The Schecter Group recently studied 24 corporate logos and found Borden to be one of just three companies with a logo that clearly enhances brand value. IBM and Mercedes Benz were the others.

While Elsie's longevity is unmatched, Borden isn't the only dairy with a corporate cow. Darigold Inc., for example, has "Lulu." From June through November, people driving by Darigold's Seattle headquarters couldn't miss a giant billboard featuring Lulu popping out of a cake. The board, created by McCann-Erickson Seattle to commemorate Darigold's 75th Anniversary, was presented in two phases for maximum impact.

Lulu was created just last year to help Darigold enter the Boise, Idaho, market. Then, during the holiday season, she was honored on a billboard as Darigold's "1992 Employee of the Year."

Company mascots--even non-cow mascots--can be especially alluring to children, as Portland, Maine-based Oakhurst Dairy found out this summer. Oakie the Oakhurst Acorn, created this year by Burgess Advertising & Associates, has proven an effective tool for boosting Oakhurst's brand identity, building community goodwill and increasing sales.

"Since his introduction, Oakie has entertained hundreds of children, posed for scores of photographs and handed out lots of Oakhurst coupons and gifts," says Rick Ramseyer, public relations director for Burgess. Oakhurst hired a team of two college students to appear as Oakie at special events throughout Maine, including fairs, festivals and new store openings.

Oakhurst's 1993 TV ads--one of which does involve a cow--deserve a mention as well. Each 30-second commercial in the dairy's "Fresh Surprise" campaign shows something unusual happening behind the doors of a dairy case. One spot features a young girl who opens a dairy case and is surprised to find a farmer inside milking a cow. The farmer hands the girl a half-gallon of Oakhurst lowfat milk and says, "This what you're looking for?" Then the voiceover: "Oakhurst lowfat milk tastes so fresh, you'll swear there's a cow in the dairy case."

Obviously branded milk advertising isn't dead. And Oakhurst wasn't the only dairy that proved it in 1993. Down the coast from Maine, market leader H.P. Hood launched a major campaign in March designed to reinforce its leadership position in the branded milk category. Hood's 12-week effort included TV, radio and print messages, all hammering home the dairy's commitment to quality and freshness.

One Hood TV ad shows "items that consumers would never need," like a battery-operated chicken laying eggs--and a framed copy of Hood's Money Back Guarantee. A second spot--like the first, created by Leonard Monahan Lubars & Kelly, Providence, R.I.--stresses Hood's longevity in the milk business. It opens with a cow (of course) lying down next to a dog bone, cuts to a cow with slippers in its mouth, cuts to a cow standing next to a fire hydrant, and cuts again to a cow wagging its tail. Then an announcer says: "Having helped us supply the highest quality milk to New Englanders for over 145 years, we consider the cow to be man's best friend."

FSIs were a good place for cow gazing this year as well. Sargento Cheese Co. launched a bovine-based comic strip called MooTown USA in support of its MooTown Snackers line. The Kemps cows modeled swim trunks in Marigold Foods' "Summer Savings Splash" on May 23; the two-page gatefold FSI featured six 25-cent coupons and a mail-in offer for a free Kemps "It's the Cows" beach towel. And Smith Dairy Products Co., Orrville, Ohio, in several FSIs created by Cleveland's Bill Brokaw Advertising, featured a real Holstein in sunglasses with the dairy's products reflecting off the lenses. In March, Smith received the Quality Chekd Dairy Products Association's prestigious Zimmerman Award for outstanding overall marketing.