The dairy check-off organization, Dairy Management, Inc., is launching several campaigns in the digital space for June Dairy Month, according to Barbara O’Brien, DMI president who held a press conference on May 24. The focus is on Gen Z, children and young people ages 10 – 23 with estimated spending power of $110 billion. The promotions are in the digital space, building on the “Fuel Up to Play” homeroom, carried out during the pandemic reaching millions of students, teachers and parents who were even more focused online.
Also at the presser, Anne Warden, DMI’s executive vice president for communications, said kids are hearing about what foods to eat well beyond the classroom and the cafeteria. They are bombarded with information from celebrities, friends and the media. At the same time, they are more disconnected from farming than ever, asking more questions if dairy is good for the animals and the environment.
The first completely digital generation raised with smart devices and the internet, these young people want authentic information and the emotion. They want a two-way street not just someone talking at them, the old way of advertising. They want a more “immersive” experience. Gen Z is transforming how all brands sell their products. They are very smart, and they will turn against products that don’t match their values. Communications must be authentic, she said.
Warden went on the introduce three new promotions that DMI will be doing next month.
Building on the work with “gamer” influencers done last fall, the first campaign is a contest running with celebrity gamer personality Jordan Maron, known for his Captain Sparklez YouTube channel with over three million followers. Partnering with DMI, he had already introduced realistic dairy farming in his Minecraft games. During the press webinar, he said he had found the virtual visit to Lemos’ dairy very informative. He was impressed how the cows had comfortable housing and the scale of the feeding program really amazed him. He enjoys dairy foods, especially pizza and creamy drinks, and looks forward to working with DMI and his followers on a new promotional effort.
The new contest called “Beat the Lag” will give prizes for dairy recipes submitted aimed a showing how dairy provides energy and makes the ultimate gaming snack. Lag refers to the slowdown of online games when the internet connection is poor. The double meaning here is that gamers get tired and ‘lag’ themselves.
This effort will help set the stage for the #BeatTheLag snack challenge with the influencers posting recipes and inviting their audiences to create their own. This contest kicked off on May 15 and already has attracted millions of views. During May and early June, the finalists will be chosen with fans selecting their favorites by voting on Instagram polls with the winners announced during a live “Twitch” event at the end of June.
The second campaign features another popular online game. DMI has partnered with GoNoodle to develop a modern way to deliver the message of sustained energy to kids. The result is Coach Terry’s Touchdown, an interactive game led by GoNoodle and the NFL’s PLAY 60 character, Coach Terry.
Using artificial intelligence (AI) technology, GoNoodle detects kids’ movements and brings them into the action. Players will have to dodge obstacles that could “tackle” them as they run down the field and grab milk, smoothies and vegetables to ‘sustain their energy,’ earning extra lives to stay in the game. This is GoNoodle’s first game with a two-player option.
A third component of the campaign is encouraging a new generation of dairy farmers to use social media to introduce Gen Z to young farmers. Also appearing at the news conference was 24-year-old California dairyman Nevin Lemos who started his own dairy at age 20 and today with three employees milks 400 Jerseys. He had provided the virtual farm tour to gamer Maron last fall.
Speaking of Gen Z, he said he was optimistic about his age group because with access to so much online information, they are so savvy, able to pick out accurate and reliable information. “Gen Z can cut through the noise,” he said.
Also on June 1, DMI in partnership with VOX, the online news site, is hosting a virtual panel for media and consumers exploring sustainability through the eyes of farmers, chefs and more. The event will be recorded and featured on Vox.com.
All these campaigns are aimed at achieving the Checkoff’s goal of reaching this new generations of consumers where they are, according to these DMI leaders.
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