If you haven’t seen the new “Milk Life” campaign yet it’s worth taking a look.
The Milk Processor Education Program is moving away from the “Got Milk” tagline after almost 20 years. While the old “Got Milk” campaigns will always be near and dear to my heart, I’m definitely on board with the new “Milk Life” direction. As strong as “Got Milk” was, it’s messaging power faded over time as the strategy was diluted. After 20 years, it can’t possibly be effective in accomplishing the new strategy of focusing on the nutritional benefits of milk. The positioning of “Got Milk” was always more about dramatizing the need to always have milk on-hand. That’s part of what made it so brilliant, there was a never ending supply of ways to depict those painful situations where you’d run out of milk while eating cookies, cake, cereal, etc. Personally, I’ll always loved the “Who shot Alexander Hamilton?” spot. But let’s face it, these days “Got Milk” has less and less meaning, especially since countless brands have glommed on over the years with their versions of “Got [insert product]?”
It’s a bold move to make a dramatic shift in strategy like this when you’ve been using one of the most successful slogans in advertising history. Someone clearly recognized that in many ways “Got Milk” had run its course a long time ago. And the new campaign executions are solid, strategic and I’m willing to bet the start of something pretty great. As a milk lover and a marketing professional, I’m excited for the future of “Milk Life.”
