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Parents and advertisers agree: it’s hard to get teens interested in milk. Rebellion may be one reason why they don’t typically drink it, but the nutritional staple is also competing against trendy flavored waters and energy drinks.
Whatever the excuse, students at Amador Valley High School are out to change milk’s uncool rap. Commemorating the 15th anniversary of the Got Milk? campaign, teacher Joanie Thomas’ DECA business and marketing students will compete to put together the best advertising plan, competing against two other California high schools: Orange High School in Orange County and Center for Advanced Research and Technology (CART) in Fresno. The six-week challenge turns the classroom into an ad agency where students must conduct research, write strategic plans and interact with clients.
Students sacrificed a lunch period Sept. 23 to hear from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, the advertising agency that puts together Got Milk?. In addition to getting a crash course in marketing from the professionals, students learned about the latest ads put out by the California Milk Processor Board (CMPB).
The ads feature a band called White Gold and the Calcium Twins, with the rock star frontman playing a milk-filled guitar, singing about the benefits of drinking the beverage. Aimed at teens, the band has songs and humorous videos on websites like MySpace and Facebook. The goal is to show teens that milk is a “super drink” that can do everything from helping recover from a workout to growing healthy hair and nails. The campaign creators said their goal was to adhere to the tendencies of teens, who are often plugged into an iPod and sending funny videos on YouTube to their friends.
In Amador’s research phase, which was comprised of online surveys, focus groups and a blind study, they found that if teens had heard of White Gold, they weren’t impressed.
Tanya Carter, a senior who plans to major in business in college, said her peers didn’t find the character relatable. What they also found was students spend a lot of time on the Internet, as they suspected.
“I try to think what I would be drawn to,” she said about trying to advertise to her peers. “We have really creative people and good ideas.”
The class also discussed reasons why the message of milk as a “super drink” didn’t get to students because the lyrics to the fictional band’s songs weren’t easily heard.
Up next for the marketing class is to develop ideas into a catchy ad pitch, complete with advertising avenues like TV and Internet ads and maybe even mobile phone applications and games.
Carter will be one of five students to present the completed campaigns will be put before the CMPB Nov. 12 and the winners will be announced on the spot and presented with the prize of $2,000. If they win, Thomas said she has an idea about what to do with the money: keep some for the DECA program and distribute the rest to the students through gift cards for electronics to help the graduates buy needed items for college.
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