When DDB Vancouver’s creative team found a YouTube clip of a guy playing his tuba to a bunch of happy cows, they knew they’d found the basis for the BC Dairy Association’s latest campaign, which then launched Oct. 11.
“We were just fascinated by how this herd of cows came over to the fence and actually wanted to listen to this guy playing his tuba,” said Dean Lee, creative director at the agency. “It seemed like a perfect fit with BC Dairy’s positioning of must drink more milk to engage with the farmers and make milk top of mind.”
Research then revealed that some dairy farmers were successfully using music to calm their cows to produce more milk.
A concept was born. A contest that runs until Nov. 7 invites consumers to compose original music through an online tool at MusicMakesMoreMilk.com.
The five songs that garner the most votes will then be played to cows on a B.C. dairy farm on different days, and the song that produces the most milk will win its creator a trip for four to the 55th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. The four finalists and 15 semi-finalists will win music-related prizes.
Dave Eto, executive director at the BC Dairy Association, said that the campaign targets two groups: teens that tend to reduce their milk consumption and parents with young children who are reintroducing milk into their lives and love to participate with their kids in educational online activities.
“Social media and music is a perfect pairing for that Millennium group of girls and boys, and it’s an opportunity for families to engage with little ones,” said Eto. “We also want people to be engaged with the farmer.”
To promote the contest, DDB is using social outreach and a partnership with Global Television that sees its on-air personalities creating their own songs and competing against each other.
