Category – Content Partnership of the Year – large (£100k+)
Brand/Advertiser – Arla/Yeo Valley Milk
Agency – Carat UK
Campaign Name – Give Organic a Go!
Campaign Dates – 01/05/2023 – 31/10/2023
Magazine brands campaign ran in:
BBC Good Food
BBC Gardeners’ World

The Challenge (300 words)

Yeo Valley Organic, at the close of 2022, faced formidable challenges. A shifting economic landscape encouraged consumers to favour store-brand milk, leading to a reduction in milk consumption overall. Meanwhile, Yeo Valley Organic was fervently striving to draw attention to its sustainability and regenerative initiatives. To navigate these headwinds, the brand needed to carve a distinct identity and engage its audience more effectively.
Extensive research unveiled two key insights: First, 20% of our target demographic were avid gardeners, and secondly, 25% were dedicated readers of ‘BBC Gardeners’ World.’ This made an extraordinary case for a partnership with the title and its audience, a perfect fit for Yeo Valley Organic’s brand positioning.

Our primary objectives were to raise awareness of Yeo Valley Organic’s sustainability efforts and its organic product range. We wanted to spotlight the innovative changes the brand had introduced, most notably the introduction of recyclable, renewable milk packaging, which reduced plastic use by an impressive 70%.

The Big Idea (300 words)

Our strategy revolved around harnessing the influence of well-established publications to create immersive and contextually pertinent platforms for delivering our message. Our primary objective was to communicate that Yeo Valley’s organic milk retains its unmatched deliciousness and freshness while also championing sustainability through innovative, eco-friendly packaging. Our focus was on reaching out to gardeners and BBC Gardeners’ World enthusiasts, a target audience already inclined to appreciate the natural world, further reinforcing Yeo Valley Organic’s core values of environmental stewardship.
Our overarching goal was to cut through the cacophony of the competitive milk market, solidifying Yeo Valley Organic as a brand that deeply cares about both its products and the planet. At the heart of this partnership lay our commitment to engage with consumers on their sustainability journey, encouraging them to embrace organic products by trying Yeo Valley Organic milk.

To bring this vision to life, we issued a challenge to Immediate Media to amplify Yeo Valley Organic milk’s share of voice across various BBC Gardeners’ World and BBC Good Food touchpoints, including digital, social, print, podcasts, and an event activation at BBC Gardeners’ World Live.

We chose Immediate as our partner due to its pertinent, trusted brand portfolio and its well-established record in bringing partnerships to fruition. The publisher reaches 11.9 million individuals willing to make lifestyle adjustments in the name of conservation, comprising 55% of its audience. 9.3 million among them are open to spending more on sustainable products, with over half of the audience believing that companies should play a more active role in sustainability efforts.

Sustainability serves as a central editorial focus for both BBC Gardeners’ World and BBC Good Food, providing us with confidence that our message would find a receptive audience while being contextually relevant.

Making it Happen (300 words)

Yeo Valley Organic proudly sponsored the BBC Gardeners’ World annual editorial competition, Garden of the Year, spanning print, digital, and social platforms. In this exciting collaboration, gardening enthusiasts submitted their gardens for evaluation by our distinguished panel. Yeo Valley Organic’s commitment to the partnership was evident in its extensive integration of its organic milk across all touchpoints. Notably, Sarah Mead, Yeo Valley Organic’s head gardener, graced the Garden of the Year panel, sharing insights with experts like Alan Titchmarsh. As a delightful addition, Yeo Valley Organic offered a captivating visit to their very own organic farm as part of the grand prize.

Immediate’s renowned content studio, Imagine, took the initiative to craft compelling digital and print advertorials, along with engaging podcast ads. These materials served to educate the discerning audiences of BBC Good Food and BBC Gardeners’ World on Yeo Valley Organic’s unique approach. Print inserts included exclusive vouchers, and May’s edition of BBC Gardeners’ World featured an eye-catching paper cover wrap to entice readers to try the product.
BBC Gardeners’ World Live played host to Yeo Valley Organic’s immersive and interactive stand. The stand provided visitors with an array of experiences, including milk tastings, edible cups, a silent ‘disco’ that transported attendees to the sounds of nature, live worms, and much more. The central theme running through these interactive features and the talks delivered by various influencers was the spotlight on Yeo Valley Organic’s sustainability and organic credentials. The messaging was delivered in an engaging and distinctive manner, leaving a lasting impression.
To amplify the campaign’s reach, we strategically executed contextual digital takeovers within organic- and sustainability-focused content on both brands’ websites, further reinforcing Yeo Valley Organic’s commitment to making a difference in the world of organic products.

Results (300 words)

At the time of submission, the partnership between Yeo Valley Organic and BBC Gardeners’ World and BBC Good Food remains in effect and is slated to conclude on 31st October. Consequently, the comprehensive findings from the brand research study will be made available only after the partnership concludes. Nevertheless, with just under a month remaining on this collaboration, we are already witnessing promising results across various KPIs, which led us to anticipate a substantial increase in awareness of Yeo Valley Organic’s sustainability and organic credentials. Here is a summary of the notable achievements so far:

• Page Views: A remarkable 99,405 page views have so far been generated, surpassing our KPI of 77,500.
• BBC Garden of the Year competition: A total of 698 entries have been received, marking a year-on-year increase and reflecting a growing engagement within our audience.
• Estimated Reach: Our combined partnership has an estimated reach of over 12 million individuals, underscoring the extensive exposure Yeo Valley Organic has garnered.
• Coupon Redemptions: A notable milestone has been reached with more than 3,300 coupons redeemed to date, highlighting the enthusiasm and engagement of our audience.
• These preliminary outcomes signify a promising trajectory for the brand in terms of both awareness and engagement. As the partnership progresses towards its conclusion, we eagerly anticipate the findings of the comprehensive brand uplift study detailing the full extent of the campaign’s success.

Tesimonial quote from advertiser (300 words)

“One of the key challenges facing our brand campaign was championing the multiple reasons why shoppers choose Yeo Valley Organic milk. We know that our consumers agree with the adage ‘they are what they eat’; they will pay for quality in the belief that food that is better for nature and the environment and is naturally better for themselves too.
“The Immediate partnership offered us the opportunity to hit the sweet spot of this audience and build a closer relationship, tapping into the key passion points for our consumers in a relevant, authentic way.
“The campaign seamlessly fed through our path to purchase funnel, with opportunities to both tell our brand story through interviews with our Head Gardener and Chelsea Flower Show winner Sarah Mead, as guest judge of GW’s Garden of the Year Competition; to telling the product story of our milk and its new look renewable carton packaging. The partnership boasted a variety of media channels and touch points to both engage and inspire, whilst also offering us opportunity to incentivise sales through close retail partnerships.”
– Liz Grek, Brand Manager, Arla Foods

Supporting Documents