A man dressed all in white breakdances to a German-language cover of Dr Alban's hit “Sing Hallelujah”. The dancer is the main character in Initiative Milk’s latest “Hallemoojah” campaign film and represents milk. He moves between breakfast table, sports studio and kiosk in an unusual and entertaining way. The film shows new and rarely seen moments of consumption, the industry's statement for a sustainable future and good products. “People are impressed, they didn't think we were capable of something so modern,” says Kerstin Wriedt, Managing Director of Initiative Milk. “The clip conveys innovation and joie de vivre.” This summer, the music video was viewed more than 283,000 times in three months on the You​T​ube channel “Milch macht’s”. ​​

According to market researchers, one in three viewers under the age of thirty had a better opinion of milk and dairy products this year. The film and its message appealed to 75% of people under the age of 39, half of whom said it was “very good” or “good” - and almost half of whom wanted to know more about the food. The campaign measurably reached neutral viewers and critics and increased positive perceptions, while very negative perceptions dropped by over 5% after the video.

 This may not sound like much, but the creators know that a lasting positive response has to be carefully built up. It is a matter of fundamentally changing the image, of creating a counterweight to the critics of milk who are to be found among young consumers. The tongue-in-cheek campaign film is part of a broad educational campaign launched three years ago. ​​​​  

 Social media infrastructure  

 Initiative Milch's core target group is consumers aged 16 to 29 and families with children, who together make up some 24 million people. The main way ​to ​reach them is through digital and social media. Initiative Milk uses a variety of formats to do this, including videos on TikTok and Instagram, podcasts on platforms such as Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music and its own website, as well as talk shows that are streamed online, often in collaboration with influencers, to attract a lot of attention. And it's working. Campaigns launched in June each year have collectively generated over 62 million impressions. These are metrics that indicate how many times a user has been visually exposed to online content. If you add in the attention generated by poster advertising, the total is almost 245 million impressions.  

“We are very pleased,” says Wriedt. It is clear that new points of contact are being created for young people and that an objective approach to data from climate and nutrition research is emerging. “We bring together different perspectives from experts and invite young people from farms and dairies to tell us about their work.” The more clearly issues such as climate change or nutrition are discussed, the more positively milk is viewed. This includes continuing to engage with the analogue world. Initiative Milk provides information material for nutritionists and food retailers, action days and school visits. There are also campaigns in the print, TV and radio media.