Each day, dairy farmers work tirelessly to provide consumers with the dairy foods they know and love. With many hours spent each day milking cows, managing herd health and office work, hardworking dairy producers deserve a checkoff program to work for them to impact dairy demand.
For this past year, Dairy MAX achieved new milestones across all program areas. The 2016 Year in Review shows these success stories with a fresh twist.
“This year, the Year in Review is delivered in a video format. By 2019, 80 percent of all internet content will be video, so this is one way we are evolving with the times,” Marty McKinzie, Dairy MAX’s vice president of industry image and relations says.
“By showing the year in a video format, producers can see tangible results of their checkoff dollars at work over the past year,” McKinzie says.
In 2016 Dairy MAX’s five program areas worked cohesively to increase sales and consumption of dairy foods while protecting producer and product image.
“The digital marketing plan is one way we have continued to communicate with consumers with one voice,” states McKinzie.
Dairy MAX shared the farm-to-fridge story digitally, generating 57,750 engagements with consumers online and on its social media platforms for the past year.
Consumer communication also increased through the traveling Dairy Discovery Zone exhibit.
“A total of 256,324 consumers were reached face-to-face at fairs and rodeos across the region,” McKinzie says. “The exhibit provides an excellent venue for reaching multiple generations of consumers in a family friendly format.”
The school marketing team continues to grow the next generation of dairy lovers through their various school nutrition programs.
“We all know that children are our future—which means, one day, they will be the consumers making decisions at the grocery store,” states McKinzie. “If we can instill a love for dairy foods in children while they are young, they will be more likely to choose dairy foods as adults.”
The Dairy Dollars for Schools program generated a 27 percent increase in milk carton sales, an increase of 926,000 pounds of milk sold.
Also in 2016, Dairy MAX became the official nutrition partner of the Dallas Cowboys, sponsoring the Fuel Up Training Table in the Cowboys’ new facility, The Star.
“Through this partnership, we can reach approximately 250,000 consumers touring The Star facilities,” McKinzie says. “Here visitors see what players eat and the role that dairy foods play in good nutrition.”
Dairy MAX’s health and wellness team also grew dairy demand with health professionals in 2016.
“The team hosted their second annual #DairyAmazing Symposium to educate health professionals on the advantages of dairy foods over milk alternatives in the diet,” states McKinzie.
The event featured thought leaders who shared the science behind dairy, and participants shared the message beyond the symposium—the event garnered 462,817 unique impressions on social media through the hashtag, #DairyAmazing.
The industry image and relations team continued to help dairy farmers share their stories with consumers. Additionally, the team provided ways for farmers to show commitment to their communities.
“The Passion for Pints blood drives are an example of how the team helped connect consumers and farmers,” McKinzie says. “With more than 200 individual blood drives, the campaign impacted 31,678 lives with more than 10,000 units of blood donated.”
While 2016 was one of the most successful years yet, the work doesn’t stop there.
“We achieved great things in 2016, but the year serves as a new standard to exceed in 2017,” McKinzie says. “We look forward to growing our programs to, in turn, grow dairy food consumption.”
To see your checkoff in action and learn more about Dairy MAX’s efforts in 2016, visit yir.dairymax.org.
