In 2021, MilkPEP went from several agencies to one when it appointed GALE as its integrated agency of record.
It was a decision driven by MilkPEP CEO Yin Woon Rani’s desire to streamline operations within the organization, which represents dairy processors in the US, and avoid pitfalls she saw during her previous experience leading media agencies and at several Fortune 500 companies and well-known brands with multiple agencies making up its roster.
“The industry does a solid disservice by operating in silos. I've lived in many silos myself; I’ve worked in media and run many integrated agency teams. I've been a client of many integrated agency teams. Whether or not the enterprises are separate or not, you need to have the ambition, the ways of working and the culture that brings the whole marketing ecosystem to bear on our client's problem,” Rani said, speaking on stage at the Digiday Media Buying Summit alongside GALE CEO Brad Simms and moderator Digiday Senior Editor Michael Burgi.
It's a viewpoint that Simms shares and was at the center of designing GALE when it launched in 2014. “GALE was built modern and grew to be integrated as that’s how consumers view a brand. They don’t differentiate between an email, or a social post, or a website. It’s all one brand.”
In today’s media environment, where marketers must move at a rapid pace to keep up with consumers, Simms and Rani shared their learnings from the last four years of partnership. An integrated approach on both the brand and agency side allows their teams to produce content quickly and deliver results – all while remaining on strategy.
“I believe you have to follow the lead of your consumers who are moving through your brand ecosystem much more fluently than we do. The silos of the industry and silos of organizations get in the way of that,” Rani added.
By embracing an integrated approach, GALE and Milk have been able to blur the lines between media, creative, experiential, and entertainment to drive huge results. In 2023, MilkPEP created Team Milk, supporting female runners in the New York City Marathon. Women in Team Milk were welcomed into a community and provided with content, pre-race training support, and on-the-ground recovery stations. In 2023, one in five female runners in the New York City Marathon were part of Team Milk.
“It’s a staggering accomplishment,” Simms said. “We are creating unbelievable experiences and content for our Team Milk crew and getting them involved in the brand. They’re becoming advocates. That’s modern marketing.”
And the approach is driving real results. The launch of Wood Milk immediately drove a 20% increase in cultural relevance among moms, and there is a 40+ percentage point gap in finding milk relevant when comparing moms and teens who are aware of Milk’s campaigns versus those who are not. And, importantly, for every $1 spent in advertising, Milk has generated $14 in incremental sales.
This year, Milk announced its latest commitment to female athletes; it has created and will host the only US marathon designed by and for women, the Every Woman’s Marathon. To announce the initiative, one of the largest experiential activations in recent history, Milk and GALE tapped acclaimed poet, Amanda Gorman.
“We’ve driven cultural relevance, good consumption numbers, and impacted attitudes among moms and teens as much as double digits in some cases. It’s remarkable,” Rani said.
