‘make mine Milk’ and BeatBullying announce year-long brand partnership

The Milk Marketing Forum has today announced that ‘make mine Milk’, its celebrity milk-moustache campaign, will team up with leading charity, BeatBullying, for a year-long partnership of co-branded activity.

Current funding arrangements for the ‘make mine Milk’ campaign, with money supplied by the five MMF members and the European Commission, came to an end in October 2012 following the final burst of advertising featuring Olympic trio Laura Trott, Nicola Adams and Jade Jones.

However, remaining funds from the dairy industry have been used to deliver a number of hard working tactics over the course of 2012 and 2013. One element of the extended campaign is a partnership with BeatBullying that will see at least six PR and social media initiatives unveiled between November 2012 and October 2013.

The first of these will be for Anti-Bullying Week, the week commencing 19 November 2012, where school pupils throughout the UK will take a stand against bullying by wearing blue wristbands that bear both the BeatBullying and the ‘make mine Milk’ logos. Activity for the Week – including in-school posters and national media interviews – will be fronted by former world champion boxer, Joe Calzaghe, who is one of BeatBullying’s patrons.

Sandy Wilkie, Chairman of the Milk Marketing Forum, said: “The ‘make mine Milk’ campaign has been a great success, and now it’s vital that we use the limited remaining funds from MMF member companies to ensure an ongoing legacy. Whilst this will be low-level, our planned activity does ensure that we can still promote low fat milk to young people and families.

“Our partnership with BeatBullying is a fantastic way to continue the campaign – BeatBullying is a successful charity that is in touch with, and popular among, Britain’s teenagers and their parents. The partnership will provide a cornerstone of another important year for ‘make mine Milk’ as we look to secure future funding from across the industry. For the long-term health of milk in Britain, it’s crucial that everyone – including farmers – plays their part.”

Emma-Jane Cross, Chief Executive and founder of the BeatBullying Group, added:

“This partnership with ‘make mine Milk’ will mean that thousands more young people can be made aware of, and benefit from BeatBullying’s essential online and offline support.

“It takes us one step closer on our mission to make bullying unacceptable, and we look forward to helping many more young people as a result.”

Since launching in April 2010, a whole host of celebrities have fronted the ‘make mine Milk’ campaign including Olympic gold medalists Laura Trott, Nicola Adams and Jade Jones, the ultimate hardman Vinnie Jones, independent woman Kelly Rowland, Harry Potter star Rupert Grint, F1 driver Jenson Button, supermodel Elle Macpherson, pop princess Pixie Lott and Britain’s angriest chef, Gordon Ramsay.

The campaign was created by the Milk Marketing Forum, which is a consortium of leading dairy companies comprised of Arla Foods UK, Dairy Crest Limited, First Milk, Milk Link and Robert Wiseman Dairies, with support provided by Dairy UK and The Dairy Council. Of the £7.5 million total spend for the three-year campaign, a third came from European Union funding.

Latest tracking data by Researchcraft shows that ‘make mine Milk’ campaign awareness is now at record levels: 62% overall and 70% amongst teenage girls. And in terms of volume, figures released by Kantar show that sales of milk increased by 2.1% in the 12 months ending May 2011, the first year of the campaign. They increased by a further 1.5% in the following 12-month period, reversing the long-term decline in milk sales.

Furthermore, independently audited figures from the MMF companies suggest that there has been an incremental volume increase of 110 million litres sold in 2011 vs. 2010.

Beatbullying is the UK’s leading bullying prevention charity and aims to create a world where bullying, violence and harassment are unacceptable. The charity’s mission is to empower people to understand, recognise, and say no to all forms of bullying, violence and harassment.

For news on the ‘make mine Milk’ campaign, visit the campaign website www.makemineMilk.co.uk. To find out more about BeatBullying, visit www.beatbullying.org.