Campaign Details & Goals
The National Dairy Council (NDC) Ireland celebrated World Milk Day at Bord Bia Bloom, one of Ireland’s largest outdoor food and garden festivals, attracting over 100,000 visitors over five days. For the third year in a row, the NDC exhibited a concept show garden to raise awareness about Ireland’s dairy production system and celebrate dairy’s taste and nutrition credentials.
The goals for the World Milk Day campaign were to advocate for Irish dairy farmers’ social license to produce milk and inform society why Irish dairy is an important part of a healthy, balanced and sustainable diet.
Elements included:
Campaign Type
- Live Event
Location
Dublin, Ireland
Dates
June 1, 2024
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- Demo Kitchen: On the left side of the garden was a demo kitchen, set in a typical Irish farmhouse. The kitchen hosted workshops and live cooking demonstrations.
- Milk Tasting and Discussion: The demo kitchen held a milk tasting and discussion to highlight the brilliant taste credentials and properties of milk. Like wine, the sensory aspects of milk are driven by its ‘terroir’ and unique composition. The tasting event – See, Swirl, Sniff, Sip, Savor – featured a discussion with NDC Senior Nutritionist Dr. Mary Harrington, Food Writer Dee Laffan, and Cookery Writer & Broadcaster Aisling Larkin. The trio sampled different milks like low fat, UHT, Jersey milk and full fat milk as the crowd watched.
- Virtual Reality Experience: On the right side of the garden was the “Moo Crew virtual reality experience,” where visitors could be transported to an Irish dairy farm through the virtual reality goggles.
- Milk Moustache Photo Booth: There was a photo booth with milk moustache props for people to take photos and post on social media using a custom frame and hashtag.
- Milly the Cow: The NDC’s mascot made a special appearance – walking around the event, meeting and greeting curious children, teens and parents.
- Press and Social Media: There was also a photocall and extensive promotional activities on social media.
Details That Led to a Successful Campaign
Attract: Nothing catches people’s attention quite like a mascot! NDC had limited space to activate in the show garden area, so it brought Milly the Cow around the event. She was a big hit among visitors of all ages, snapping a few selfies with her biggest fans. Milly encouraged people to visit the show garden, increasing foot traffic to the main activation area.
Engage: Hands-on activities, such as the photo booth and virtual reality experience, were important for improving the educational experience of visitors, particularly for young children with limited attention spans.
Entertain: The live cooking demonstrations, such as the butter making workshop and milk taste test, were highly entertaining for visitors. Visitors were encouraged to recreate the activities at home, extending the joy of dairy beyond the event. As a special treat for visitors, five jivers (dancers) performed traditional Irish dances in the garden.
Educate: There was a lot of educational information in the garden, from the milk churns that were painted with the eight nutrients in a glass of milk to the signposts that provided more information about the garden’s plants and soil – all elements that can be found on an Irish dairy farm. The signs also had QR codes, which led people to our website where they could read more about the garden.
