Gate 39 Media Celebrates National Dairy Day and Famous Dairy Marketing Campaigns

June 1 is National Dairy Day (to kick off National Dairy Month). In honor of this moooo-velous holiday, the Gate 39 Media team celebrates their favorite dairy products**, we share some fun dairy facts from drink-milk.com, and we highlight some memorable dairy marketing campaigns developed over the years.

According to the IDFA: National Dairy Month started out as National Milk Month in 1937 as a way to promote drinking milk. It was initially created to stabilize the dairy demand when production was at a surplus, but has now developed into an annual tradition that celebrates the contributions the dairy industry has made to the world After the National Dairy Council stepped in to promote the cause, the name soon changed to “Dairy Month.”

By overwhelming majority, the #1 favorite dairy product of Gate 39 Media is…CHEESE

**Note: Dairy is a popular product in our company so many employees have multiple favorites.

Shane Stiles, President: American cheese for burgers, Chihuahua cheese for tacos, and of course the mozzarella for my ‘za.

Megan Smith, Director of Client Services: String cheese! It’s my daily snack.

Carolyn Beatty, Client Support Specialist: Hands down, it’s cheese. A really good cheddar, gouda or goat cheese are my go-to favorites.

Meraj Alam, Project Manager: Who doesn’t love a good Cheez-Whiz?

(Me) Kaitlin Vrsek, Agricultural Marketing Strategist: Give me all of the melty, cheesy goodness! Currently dreaming of a smoked queso dip…

Fun Cheese Facts:

It takes 10 pounds of milk to make 1 pound of cheese.
Cheddar is the most popular natural cheese in the US.

First Runner-Up in the Gate 39 Media Dairy Throwdown is…ICE CREAM!

Jenn Munsayac, Senior Marketing Manager: Full on dairy, creamy goodness and highly caloric ice cream.

Jalyssa Woodall, Digital Marketing Specialist II: I am obsessed with ice cream and milk shakes!

Brian Scholtz, Technical Product Manager: I’m more a frozen yogurt or ice cream fan, but I do like a good frozen custard now and then.

Sarah McNabb, Chief Marketing Officer: I’m partial to yogurt of all kinds, full fat or non!

Fun Ice Cream Facts:

It takes 12 pounds of whole milk to make 1 gallon of ice cream.
Vanilla is America’s favorite flavor ice cream.

Rounding out the Gate 39 Dairy Throwdown…MILK!

Walter Loburak, WordPress Developer: Kefir – it’s not popular in the US but it’s delicious.

Shane Stiles, President (again): I have a bad habit of drinking a glass of Fairlife 2% milk with cookies before bed…

Fun Milk Facts:

The average cow produces 8 gallons of milk per day, that’s over 100 glasses of milk!
Milk arrives at your local grocery store within 48 hours of leaving the farm.

Milk Marketing Milestones

As a marketing and technology agency serving the financial AND agricultural industries, of course we must give nod to some of the great marketing campaigns that have arisen out of the dairy industry.

Can you say, “Got Milk?”

Got Milk Celebrating its 28th birthday in 2021, and arguably one of the most popular campaigns of its time, the “Got Milk?” campaign was created by the Goodby Silverstein & Partners for the California Milk Processor Board in 1993. Still an iconic brand to this day, Got Milk? boasts a 90% awareness rate in the United States and is still utilized by dairy boards across the country.

Incorporating star power with sports celebrities to the Hollywood elite, the simple tagline and milk mustache icon resonated with audiences of all ages and demographics. Think about a bowl of cereal, “Nothing else except milk works,” Jeff Manning, then director of the California Milk Processor Board, says. “Soda doesn’t work, Gatorade doesn’t work, water doesn’t work. The only thing that works in that bowl of Cheerios is milk.”

And work it did, across magazines, television ads, and radio, Got Milk? pushed marketing to new limits during the early ‘90’s. While American eating and drinking habits have shifted away from milk in the current time, the long-lasting effect of this campaign can still be felt in our industry, today.

The California Milk Advisor Board hit a homerun with “Great Cheese comes from Happy Cows. Happy Cows come from California.” I still remember the hit the snooze commercial! Do you?

Developed by the Deutsch LA agency, this campaign incorporated both local and national television, radio, print and retail promotions in these humorous advertisements looking into the lives of happy California cows. Targeted mostly towards California women between the ages of 25-54, the goal was to trigger an emotive connection to locally sourced products and trigger that emotion it did. Though not the primary goal of this campaign, it was definitely a positive outcome to the client as California overtook Wisconsin in cheese sales in 2004 during the Happy Cows era.

The cows weren’t the only icon to emerge from this campaign, the “Real California Cheese” seal, proudly emblazoned on your grocers’ shelves, touted the pride of which California dairyman produced the cheese. It communicated to the consumer, “When you see [this] seal, you’ll feel good knowing that the product is certified as having been made with 100% Real California Milk from Real California Dairy families. Look for the seal locally, on products like butter, ice cream, yogurt, buttermilk, cream, cheese, sour cream and créme fraîche.”

Now, enjoy a tall glass of moo-juice and cookies, nibble on a cheese plate or dish up your favorite scoop of ice cream on this National Dairy Day!

And if you would like to learn how Gate 39 Media could help you develop a winning agricultural marketing campaign or implement custom ag tech to elevate the experience of your agribusiness clients, contact us or schedule time to chat with me:

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