In 2011, Prairie Farms Dairy, Hazelwood, Mo., decided to incorporate its milk and cultured products into its “Make Tracks at the Zoo” sponsorship at this annual St. Louis Zoo event. (Previously, ice cream items had been the focus of the processor’s participation.)

“The family-focused fitness walk/run was a perfect fit for our messaging promoting milk and MilkPEP’s ‘Pour One More’ message,” said Carol Stewart, account manager.

As an event sponsor, the dairy donated yogurt and milk for a breakfast bag given to almost 4,000 participants. The Prairie Farms logo was included on the zoo’s website, run registration form and the official event T-shirt, and participants received coupons.

Post-run, attendees visited a Prairie Farms-branded tent for milk, drinkable yogurt and frozen treat samples as well as “got milk?” cups, buttons, pins and zipper pulls.

Stewart said that the zoo is a great venue to reach its target audience of moms and families with young children.

For its efforts, Prairie Farms was the winner of the Local Processor Events category.

“Chris McQueen, our marketing manager, has now developed a year-round program with the zoo tying into their seasonal programs, giving us the opportunity to reinforce our educational messaging and building our brand awareness in the community,” Stewart said.