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MilkPEP: What’s In It For Me?
The Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP) provides resources for processors to help increase milk sales. The assessment-funded program is perhaps best known for the Milk Mustache ad campaign, one of the most beloved and successful campaigns in modern-day advertising.
Leveraging the popularity of the advertising, MilkPEP
offers fully integrated retail promotions and outreach activities to grab
consumers right at the point of sale, including national print and TV
advertising; public relations; retail promotions and support; grassroots
outreach, including the Milk Mustache Mobile Tour; cross-channel
communications to school nutrition professionals, vending operators and
retailers; opportunity seminars; and business support tools like research
data and the “MilkSplash” monthly newsletter.
This year, MilkPEP has launched “Think About
Your Drink,” which adds greater impact to the already successful
“24/24 — Milk Your Diet. Lose Weight” message. Coming
next month is a promotion called “Another Season, Another
Reason,” with the “Give Your Family Something Smarter”
promotion slated to debut in September. Each of these programs revolves
around the importance of drinking milk and why it’s an essential
beverage in light of the results of the What
America Drinks report.
The “Body by Milk” program continues in
schools across the country, speaking to teens about a healthy, active
lifestyle which includes drinking milk. At the heart of the program is an
online merchandise auction at www.bodybymilk.com
Q. Who is Mike Simmons and how can he help processors?
A. Mike is MilkPEP’s
director of processor relations, whose goal is to help processors increase
milk sales by taking full advantage of MilkPEP’s marketing and retail
programs available. To date, he’s visited 70 processor locations,
giving them one-on-one attention to answer questions and navigate through
program execution details.
Mike is part educator, part motivator, part coach and
part advocate. He seeks out input on ways to improve the promotions and
programs, and delivers this feedback to marketing and advertising teams.
And these processor insights have already been integrated into some of the
new initiatives coming this year and into 2008.
Q. What’s in it for processors to participate in
MilkPEP programs?
A. Processors who
capitalize on the resources available from MilkPEP have historically
realized increased sales. Almost every U.S. processor contributes to
MilkPEP through their assessment fee. Participation ensures they are fully
maximizing that investment.
New this year are the MilkPEP Achievement Awards,
which will honor salespeople and other processor representatives who boost
sales using MilkPEP programs and promotional materials. A good MilkPEP
success story could win some lucky person a “Peppy Award,” and
one overall “Peppy” winner will be chosen to star in a Milk
Mustache ad!
Deadline for entries is June 15, 2007. Winners will be
announced at the 2007 Dairy Sales and Marketing Meeting.
Q. What steps can processors take right now?
A. Contact Mike Simmons at
(202) 420-0468 or msimmons@idfa.org to get the full details and deadlines
for upcoming promotions. Visit www.milkpep.org — the “got
news” section — to review all of the resources and tools available. Call (800)
945-MILK to order merchandising and promotional materials, tool kits,
retail packaging support and other resources.
Mark your calendars for the 2007 Dairy Sales and
Marketing Meeting — July 30 to August 1 in Minneapolis.
With access to over one million professionals and more than 60 industry-specific publications,
