The campaign's two most recent celebrity marketing efforts are appearing as print ads, as usual.
But in addition, one interactive version (featuring St. Louis Cardinals star player Albert Pujols) is being featured in Sports Illustrated's new iPad edition, and the other (featuring Lauren Conrad of TV shows "The Hills" and "Laguna Beach") is available via text messaging.
"Continuing to make the 'Got Milk?' campaign stimulating and exciting has always been an important goal for us, and the advent of various new media channels has challenged us to think differently about how to connect with our various consumer groups most effectively," sums up Vivien Godfrey, CEO of the Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP), which manages the multifaceted marketing program for its milk-processor sponsors.
The new digitally based efforts cost-effectively make use of opportunities to film new Got Milk? (a/k/a "Milk Mustache") campaign stars while they're being shot for print ads, explains Sal Taibi, partner/general manager of Deutsch Inc., who has led the agency's management of the integrated campaign since its inception.
The Pujols iPad ad version -- which placed MilkPEP among the first round of advertisers in SI's first iPad issue (released June 24), along with AT&T, Sprint, Lexus, Toyota, Nissan, Gatorade and others -- offers, for example, video of the baseball star explaining the reasons that he makes milk part of his training nutrition regimen.
Prior to the iPad's launch, MilkPEP had been working with Pujols to star in a "Got Milk?" print ad as part of its outreach to young males/ male teens (the campaign regularly encompasses various ads targeted to specific audience segments, including moms with growing kids, as well as young/teen males and females, and Hispanic market segments), Godfrey tells Marketing Daily. As a regular SIprint advertiser, the debut of the iPad device and SI's plan to launch its iPad edition happened to present a "great" opportunity to achieve "richer, deeper engagement" with the target audience, she says.
Meanwhile, text messaging is enabling MilkPEP to offer female teens access to an exclusive video of Conrad (by snapping a photo of the ad with their smartphones and texting to get immediate video access in return). Again, the video drives home the milk-is-cool message, with the actress/fashion designer explaining why milk is a favorite beverage.
As usual, MilkPEP is running the celebrity print ads in numerous vehicles (the Pujols ad is appearing in ESPN Magazine, Boy's Life, Rolling Stone, gaming titles and comics among others, while the Conrad ad first appeared in USA Today and is also appearing in People, Girl's Life, Rolling Stone and several key teen magazines).
In addition, the availability of the iPad/text messaging interactive media efforts are being promoted via online advertising on a variety of sites heavily trafficked by teens, including Facebook and MyYearbook.com, plus sites specifically geared to male teens and female teens. (MilkPEP also has five of its own sites, each dedicated to serving a different milk-marketing target audience.)
MilkPEP/Deutsch won't try to go back and use previous Got Milk? print ad celebs for new digital/rich media efforts (in part for practical, contractual reasons), says Godfrey. However, she and Taibi report that new creative underway and developed going forward will definitely incorporate the interactive/rich-media capabilities and seek to use what is learned from these initial efforts to expand and hone the campaign's effectiveness at reaching/engaging consumers via new channels/formats.
Originally published at www.mediapost.com by Karlene Lukovitz.
