Darigold, a member owned co-op representing nearly 500 family farms across the Northwest, has been producing the finest dairy products since 1918. Darigold producers provide high-quality nutrition for customers, steward the land to pass on to their children and grandchildren, and contribute to the communities where they live and work.

Darigold understands the value consumers place on buying locally-made products, and as such, we’ve partnered with its internal communications team to scale up the company’s media efforts and increase awareness of Darigold’s farmer-owned model and its commitment to providing consumers with high-quality, nutritious dairy products.

PR Objectives

• • Build brand awareness of Darigold regionally (and internationally, where relevant)
  • Share history and success of the Darigold brand
  • Support the brand promise of “enabling people to enjoy a rich and flavorful life”
  • Build strong relationships with regional media and influencers on behalf of Darigold

Our Strategy

To reinforce Darigold’s business and communication objectives, we partnered with executives to identify newsworthy storylines that communicate the co-op’s key messages and position the company as a local, high-quality brand consumers can trust – and with such a wide variety of stakeholders and meaningful activity, there were many opportunities!

We developed a set of key messages that resonated with target audiences regionally, as well as specific target markets in the northwest. This set of core messages is included in all communication and media materials in an effort to help shape perceptions of Darigold and ensure message pull-through in coverage.

As part of this strategy, we developed creative ways to tell the Darigold story including inviting media to member dairy farms to provide them with an opportunity to interact with the brand and share their experience with their readers/viewers.

In the spring of 2017, we leveraged Earth Day to highlight how one of Darigold’s member farms has been producing electricity for nearly a decade from cow manure and invited media to the farm for a behind-the-scenes look. ‘We are making electricity:’ Dairy farmer making power from cow manure.

We leveraged this strategy with another member farm in a different regional market to speak directly with the farmer to understand the daily operations of a dairy farm – everything from the cow nutrition plan and milking the cows to nutrient management systems and sustainability practices. Learning from Hosting a Behind-the-Scenes Tour of Rickreall Dairy.

In partnership with Darigold, we also helped place several op-eds related to the NAFTA trade negotiations that have been taking place, including The Seattle Times, “Canadian trade policies hurt U.S. dairy farmers” and the Idaho Statesman, “Canada places an unfair burden on Idaho dairy farmers.

In the fall, we had the distinct pleasure of tasting Darigold’s new Heat n’ Serve Hot Cocoa before it hit the shelves, and in preparation for driving editorial and blog coverage. Redefining Hot Cocoa: Darigold Releases New Heat N’ Serve Hot Cocoa.

We also had the opportunity to support Darigold’s partnership with MilkPEP and Olympic hopeful Breezy Johnson, to reinforce the health benefits of white milk, and align its brand with the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. In addition to social media activities, we secured editorial coverage with The Ski Journal, “Too Fast to be Scared with Breezy Johnson;” Bellingham Herald, “She’s never skied Mt. Baker, but this WWU sophomore hopes to compete in the Winter Olympics;” and Idaho Statesman, “She might be America’s next downhill skiing star. And she’s from Idaho.”

Results

We secured 66 total pieces of coverage between April 2017 through March 2018, ranging from business focused coverage in The Seattle Times to lifestyle publications such as 425 Magazine to coverage in blogs. Additionally, we secured 42 calendar listings to promote Darigold’s Hot Cocoa launch during holiday events.

These results have played a role in Darigold’s continued success in meeting its top business objectives.