The dairy sector is attempting to raise its profile and extol the benefits of drinking milk, either in other drinks or on its own, at a time when many farmers are having to dump excess supplies.
The 12-week ‘Milk Your Moments’ campaign focuses on the importance of human connections during the Coronavirus crisis and the role of milk during those moments, particularly through tea, coffee and milky drink occasions.
Throughout May, the main focus of the campaign has been to encourage consumers to send in user-generated content through social media channels, showing their own “moments of connection” around dairy consumption. These short films will form the central storyboard for a series of TV adverts – the first ads for the sector in more than a decade – which will air in June.
As part of the campaign, £1 will be donated to mental health charity Mind for each new interaction with the Milk Your Moments website, up to a total of £100,000. Contributing consumers will also be able to win a variety of competition prizes over its duration.
The campaign has been funded through the combination of a £500,000 investment by the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the devolved nations, £300,000 from a variety of large and small dairy processors and other industry bodies, and £200,000 from the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB).
As a spokeswoman for AHDB pointed out, dairy has always been the centre point for moments of human connection, “from a pizza party for the kids, to catching up for a cuppa with family”.
Any dairy farmers wanting to promote the campaign can do so using any social media platform, using the hashtag #milkyourmoments