Two Months Post-Launch: “Refuel – Got Chocolate Milk?” Campaign Is Off to a Strong Start

Growing up, the “Got Milk?” campaign seemed to be everywhere. I loved flipping through magazines and seeing which celebrity or pop culture icon had been featured sporting a milk mustache in the newest ad. Long touted as one of the most famous commodity advertising campaigns, I often wondered if it could be topped, or would we be asking “Got Milk?” for another 20+ years.

Based on a refreshed campaign launched this March, it looks like consumers can add one more word to the iconic slogan – now we’ll be wondering, “Got Chocolate Milk?” As part of an initiative to tap into the $3.3 billion sports-drink industry, America’s Milk Processors are urging athletes to “Refuel with Chocolate Milk” after workouts.

I’m a prime candidate for this campaign because I’ve always said that I tend to crave chocolate milk after a long run. This goes back to my days as a high school track runner. For a long time, people called me crazy for wanting milk after a tough workout, but now there’s a campaign that proves I’m not alone!

The advertising collateral for “Got Chocolate Milk?” is capitalizing on celebrity athlete partnerships and a new slogan, “My After.” Videos, commercials, and print ads  featuring athletes such as Carmelo Anthony, Dana Torres, and Chris Lieto tap into existing fan bases while also validating milk’s ability to be considered a sports drink among consumers.

CHRIS LIETO, Professional Triathlete, Ironman

Notably, the campaign isn’t only using celebrity athletes to reach its target audience (athletes aged 18-34), and is also leveraging key influencers such as coaches and trainers to help build communities of “chocolate milk refuel champions.” This seems to be done well, especially on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, where fans and followers seem engaged with the content the team is sharing.

The team behind “Got Chocolate Milk?” is excelling at creative relevant, practical, and informative content for all online channels. There is a nice mix of sports and nutritional information, resources, and entertaining looks at celebrity athletes to capture attention.

As an athlete, I enjoy the articles and posts shared on the Got Chocolate Milk? Facebook and Twitter profiles, specifically third-party articles that support the science and research behind using chocolate milk as a post-workout recovery drink. On the Facebook page, fans submitted their “after” stories for a chance to win swag and other larger prizes, and a social voting and sharing component kept the community involved with campaign messaging.

Strategic partnerships with brands such as the Rock ‘n’ Roll Race Series, Ironman, the Challenged Athletes Foundation, and Lifetime Fitness are right on the mark in terms of enhancing the campaigns credibility and increasing awareness among the target audiences. When I ran the Rock ‘n’ Roll USA half marathon earlier this spring, the Refuel team had a strong presence at the expo and the finish line. Plus, I loved getting a bottle of chocolate milk immediately after finishing the race!

Over the last couple of months, the “Got Chocolate Milk?” campaign has taken off and I’m eager to see how it progresses and whether the momentum on social networks continues or fades. Personally, I’m hoping it continues so I have proof I’m not totally crazy when I reach for chocolate milk instead of other more traditional sports drinks after a hard run.

The Big Business of Race Expos

I love race expos. There’s something familiar and exciting about walking from booth to booth the day before a big race, testing new products or taking freebies and pamphlets I’ll probably never use or read. There’s that rush when I see a company I love handing out samples or I happen to spot my favorite pair of running shoes discounted steeply. I think, though, what I love most about expos is being surrounded by hundreds of other runners – whether they’re people signed up for the same race as me or simply there to work one of the exhibitor booths, pretty much everyone inside a race expo loves the sport of running.

As someone who is still relatively new to long-distance racing, I easily get caught up in health and fitness expos as this simple, fun activity that is part of Race Weekend. You pick up your bib, t-shirt, and swag bag and then make your way through a maze of free samples and running-centric products. But, these expos are also a big business opportunity for the race organizers as well as the exhibitors, providing revenue for both.

This weekend, I ran the inaugural Rock ‘n’ Roll USA Half Marathon in D.C.  and I was eager to check out the health and fitness expo because Rock ‘n’ Roll is one of the more popular race series, which usually means more exhibitors.

There are runners who don’t like going to expos. It can be a stressful, time-consuming process that usually doesn’t accommodate people who work full-time and/or have families. It can be inconvenient for people who do not live close to the location of the race, especially travelers. For this reason, most races allow participants to pick-up packets for other runners.

Prior to RNR USA race, Competitor Group announced that runners could only pick up one extra packet free of charge. Additional packets could be picked up for $20 each. This caused some backlash on the Facebook page as well as in the blogosphere. One of the most interesting commentaries on this process came from Dorothy Beal on her blog Mile Posts. In her post on the subject, she writes:

This whole thing isn’t about making sure that someone is not using someone else’s bib much like they do at the Boston Marathon. It’s about making money. It’s a very sad sad day when races no longer CARE about the runners running their races and only see us people who open up our wallets to stuff their pockets.

She’s exactly right. Expos are an extremely important part of the sponsorship process that drives revenue for the companies organizing these races. For the upcoming Peachtree Road Race Health and Fitness Expo in Atlanta, Ga, booths can cost up to $1,450. At the expo tied to the Big Sur International Marathon event, booth prices go as high as $5,000. An important selling point for race organizers when reaching out to potential sponsors is that a certain number of people will pass through the expo hall, increasing exposure for the vendor.

Runner’s World has a series of articles where the Boston Marathon race director answers readers’ questions. This feature provides insight into the business side of road racing. Interestingly enough, several months ago, someone asked why he couldn’t pick up another runner’s race packet at an expo. The race director answered:

I suspect one of the biggest reasons this race wants runners to pick up their own packets is to maximize the number of race participants attending the expo. To secure sponsors, organizers often must promise a certain amount of foot traffic passing by the booths or a certain number of runners who might want to sample the products. The organizers may also be trying to prevent bib numbers being transferred without approval, but requiring in-person pickup won’t necessarily eliminate this.

While I’m still not sure I agree, Competitor’s announcement to charge for additional packets makes sense now that I understand more about the sponsorship process and overall cost associated with expos. The fewer people who attend the expo, the more likely it is that sponsors will not be happy with the experience and will be less inclined to enter into a marketing partnership with the race organization in the future.

Needless to say, with my love for expos and penchant for swiping my credit card at numerous booths, I’m a race organizer’s dream.

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What about you? Are you an expo lover or hater? And, what do you think about Competitor’s decision to charge for extra packets?

Pretzel Crisps Uses Super Bowl Social Media Buzz to Engage with Twitter Users

Like most people who work in the communications industry, I spent last Sunday night analyzing the commercials and campaigns that ran during and in conjunction with the Super Bowl. Posting many of my thoughts to Twitter, I kept wondering what companies would do to follow through after the big game ended (in a heart-crushing, devastating way for me…)

I kept latching on to the ideas of follow-through and engagement because so many companies featured social media channels in their ads: Facebook URLs, Twitter handles, hashtags. In my opinion, far too many brands forget that social media is supposed to be, well, social. Conversational. Engaging. Two-way. A dialogue.

What’s the point of throwing up a hashtag on a multi-million dollar spot if no one from the company is going to follow-up with people who used it, who asked questions, who tried to connect? Sure, it’s great to get a hashtag trending for a couple hours on Twitter, but what else can be done with that conversation stream the days after the game aside from throwing it up on a microsite or Facebook tab?

Using social channels and tracking conversations, brands can truly make an impact that results in a aquiring new customers, building brand loyalty, and increasing awareness. An event as popular on social media as the Super Bowl (peaking at 12,333  Tweets Per Second at the end of the game) provides countless opportunities for brands to find compelling ways to engage with consumers.

Somehow, I luckily got to experience this first hand thanks to the company Pretzel Crisps. On Monday, I received an email notification from Twitter that Pretzel Crisps had mentioned me. The pessimist in me wondered what sort of spam I had just received from this company I’d only vaguely heard of before, so I headed over to Twitter to check out the message. They responded to one of my Tweets about Super Bowl ads in a pretty clever way:

Obviously, being a smaller company, Pretzel Crisps didn’t advertise on Super Bowl Sunday, but the team didn’t let that stop them from reaching out to people chatting about the ads. Taking the engagement a step further, @PretzelCrisps offered the Fleishman-Hillard DC office some of the product to try.

After a couple of DMs, the team told me to expect some pretzels a couple days later. I figured they’d ship me a box of sample packs and that would be the end of it.

The company surprised me again.

A little after lunch time on Wednesday, I received a phone call that someone from Pretzel Crisps was waiting for me at the front desk. Slightly surprised, I walked to the receptionist desk to find two Pretzel Crisps employees with bags and bags stuffed with snacks. They politely introduced themselves and I hounded them with questions about the campaign – growing increasingly impressed with how they are running it. Basically, a team of three people are monitoring Twitter regularly looking for people mentioning that they are hungry and not sure what snack to eat. The Super Bowl provided them with tons of engagement opportunities and I have to admit they definitely followed-through:

The FH team raved about Pretzel Crisps all day and left them lots of love on Twitter. As a team, we concluded that original Pretzel Crisps + Nutella = amazing combination everyone should try.

Due to the simple “surprise and delight” factor, I am now a complete convert and brand loyalist. For the past few days, I’ve been singing the praises of Pretzel Crisps to anyone who will listen… making this marketing initiative extremely successful.

Most impressive, though, is that the engagement didn’t end when the team walked out the door earlier this week. Today, @PretzelCrisps gave my office and me shout outs for #FollowFriday – a nice touch that showed the company wanted to sustain the relationship beyond Super Bowl Sunday.