Attendees at this year’s MuchMusic Video Awards (MMVAs) are getting a load of milk. For the first time in the history of the annual awards show, Dairy Farmers of Canada is onboard as one of the sponsors.
Karen Howe, senior vice-president, creative director for the Dairy Farmers’ agency, Due North Communications, said the MMVAs represent a natural sponsorship opportunity for a brand looking to make continued headway with the teen demographic.
“Music is at the heart and centre of every teen’s life, so it seemed like an absolutely natural fit to become a sponsor,” she said. “The MMVAs are a gathering place for our teen target.”
The Dairy Farmers’ involvement with the MMVA’s includes a “Hometown Hero Party” featuring a contest winner from Cobourg, Ont. who will host the show, which takes place in Toronto, with former MuchMusic VJ Tim Deegan.
In addition, Get a Load of Milk “ambassadors” will keep people lined up to get into the MMVAs refreshed with milk and entertained with musical performances and games. They can also win wristbands to get into the awards show by “liking” Get a Load of Milk on Facebook. So-called “concierges” will also hold their place in line while they take a quick break.
On the night of the event, milk ambassadors will also be on-site at a Second Cup coffee shop across from the MuchMusic headquarters on Queen Street, taking pictures and uploading them to Facebook and Twitter.
“It’s a really cool, comprehensive event with a million different touchpoints,” said Howe.
Due North introduced the animated Get a Load of Milk spots five years ago as a way to reach what Howe described as the “ADD generation” and inspire them to continue drinking milk.
“They have the attention span of a gnat and they’re doing 10 to 12 things all at once, so that was sort of the genesis of that whole campaign,” said Howe. The agency has since created 182 of the five-second spots.
“One of the toughest things in the world is to keep teens drinking milk, but the overall trend for the past several years has been solid,” said Howe. “Teens get to a certain age and the consumption drops right off, but what we’ve seen with the campaign over the past several years is that it has made milk cool for kids.
“Teens think milk is cool, and that’s a set of words you would never have seen associated with milk five or six years ago,” said Howe. “The place it occupies in their heart and mind is a good one.”
Other brands onboard for this year’s MMVAs include Nestlé Canada’s Aero brand, Doll & Dash, Kraft Food’s Stride gum, Playtex, Coca-Cola, H&M, BlackBerry and Virgin Mobile.
Media for the Dairy Farmers of Canada’s involvement with the MMVAs was handled by M2 Universal. DFC’s other agency partners Twist Image and Launch! also had a hand in creating the campaign.
