Top of Mind: Got Milk? A Decade Of Lessons Pours In
By Jeff Manning
Monday, June 2 2003
Monday, June 2 2003
Published on AllBusiness.com
It was 10 years ago this month that the Got Milk? "brand" took off from its humble beginnings on an advertising story board. Sixty commercials later, it's become one of the most successful campaigns of the past decade and a bona fide property generating millions in revenue.
What right does the Got Milk? guy have to talk about branding? I mean, it's not like you can go out and buy a carton of Got Milk? But, after 10 years, our franchise is looking and acting more and more like a vibrant, power-packed brand. Below are some of the lessons we've learned.
1. Find the brand.
Got Milk? was founded on a very simple strategic idea; i.e., that running out of milk when you have a mouth full of peanut butter or bowl full of cereal is a pain in the butt. The strength of the "Deprivation Strategy" goes like this: One, it's true. We didn't make it up. Two, it's intensely competitive. It just wouldn't make sense to substitute Coke or Snapple for our product. And three, milk deprivation is inclusive. It is a mass-market idea that doesn't exclude anyone.
2. Recognize the brand.
Knowing exactly who your brand is seems so obvious. But many marketers don't have a clear fix on their brand's persona. They don't describe it in human terms. After wasting $300,000 on a pr event for "milk," it became obvious that the product was white, came in gallons and was pretty damn boring. Conversely, "Got Milk?" the brand struck us as hip, intelligent, funny.
In this case, the campaign, not the product, defined the brand.
3. Simplify the brand.
Consumers and marketers alike need brands that are simple, clear and fit squarely into their lives. Take the original Got Milk? media plan. This document normally spans at least 50 pages and includes many graphs, charts and quintile analyses. The Got Milk? plan was a single, hand drawn cartoon person seated on a couch. The plan's sole objective was to reach people who liked milk at home watching TV within 50 feet of the fridge.
4. Fortify the brand.
Seems to me that building a resilient, dynamic brand alone is like running a four-person relay race by oneself. Prior to Got Milk?, no one had contacted the cereal and cookie companies. Milk was "good for you" so why work with little companies like Nabisco or Nestlé or General Mills? The answer was (and is), because these brands drive milk sales. Over the past decade we have been able to leverage relationships with Oreos, Cheerios, Rice Krispies' Snap Crackle & Pop, Sesame Street's Cookie Monster and even the Girl Scouts, thereby building the equity of Got Milk? far beyond what would have been possible alone.
5. Flex
What right does the Got Milk? guy have to talk about branding? I mean, it's not like you can go out and buy a carton of Got Milk? But, after 10 years, our franchise is looking and acting more and more like a vibrant, power-packed brand. Below are some of the lessons we've learned.
1. Find the brand.
Got Milk? was founded on a very simple strategic idea; i.e., that running out of milk when you have a mouth full of peanut butter or bowl full of cereal is a pain in the butt. The strength of the "Deprivation Strategy" goes like this: One, it's true. We didn't make it up. Two, it's intensely competitive. It just wouldn't make sense to substitute Coke or Snapple for our product. And three, milk deprivation is inclusive. It is a mass-market idea that doesn't exclude anyone.
2. Recognize the brand.
Knowing exactly who your brand is seems so obvious. But many marketers don't have a clear fix on their brand's persona. They don't describe it in human terms. After wasting $300,000 on a pr event for "milk," it became obvious that the product was white, came in gallons and was pretty damn boring. Conversely, "Got Milk?" the brand struck us as hip, intelligent, funny.
In this case, the campaign, not the product, defined the brand.
3. Simplify the brand.
Consumers and marketers alike need brands that are simple, clear and fit squarely into their lives. Take the original Got Milk? media plan. This document normally spans at least 50 pages and includes many graphs, charts and quintile analyses. The Got Milk? plan was a single, hand drawn cartoon person seated on a couch. The plan's sole objective was to reach people who liked milk at home watching TV within 50 feet of the fridge.
4. Fortify the brand.
Seems to me that building a resilient, dynamic brand alone is like running a four-person relay race by oneself. Prior to Got Milk?, no one had contacted the cereal and cookie companies. Milk was "good for you" so why work with little companies like Nabisco or Nestlé or General Mills? The answer was (and is), because these brands drive milk sales. Over the past decade we have been able to leverage relationships with Oreos, Cheerios, Rice Krispies' Snap Crackle & Pop, Sesame Street's Cookie Monster and even the Girl Scouts, thereby building the equity of Got Milk? far beyond what would have been possible alone.
5. Flex