Repositioning the local favorite as the premium, healthy brand on a broader playing field

Faced with a downward trend in milk consumption and increased pressure from key branded and private-label competitors, Oakhurst Dairy needed to revitalize its brand presence and marketing effectiveness. Our challenge was to retain and reinforce the strong existing equities of this premium brand — long dominant in the Maine market — while powerfully raising its visibility as the company prepared to enter new markets.

 

Naturally Healthy, Naturally Good.

The Oakhurst brand had long been associated with “The natural goodness of Maine” — a position that successfully leveraged its local, family-owned, Maine heritage. In re-crafting Oakhurst’s image, our strategy was to retain these “naturally good” associations while carving out a unique position based on the health attributes of milk. Our research showed us that consumers identify “health” as the chief reason to purchase milk. The time was right to grab the inherent goodness of milk for Oakhurst.

 

A Fresh New Look — To reinforce Oakhurst’s new health-focused positioning, we redesigned the packaging of the entire product portfolio. The new labels strengthened existing brand equities, including Oakhurst’s national leadership in pledging not to use artificial growth hormones, while incorporating strong health messaging.

 

Launching the Campaign — With a new look and a new health-focused message, we created new broadcast, print, POS and PR communications programs to support both their existing and expansion markets.

“Audition” TV :30 Close	“Breakthrough” TV :30 Close	“Pints” TV :30 Close	“Probiotics” TV :30 Close

 

Local Stewardship — Oakhurst’s commitment to the health of its local communities began generations ago and is going strong today. We have focused attention in several areas, including the company’s annual 10% donation to support healthy kids and a healthy environment as well as their embrace of clean, green technologies. With the 2008 national elections as a backdrop, we launched the “Vote Oakhurst” campaign reminding consumers of all the reasons to purchase their local milk brand.

Radio: Vote Oakhurst :60

 

Healthy Line Extension — Oakhurst asked for our help in naming and introducing a new line of fortified milks that provide additional health benefits. The result was “Oakhurst Plus.”

 

New Products, New Markets

With new packaging in place across the complete Oakhurst retail and food service product line — more than 100 SKUs — and new advertising and POS support, the company has successfully opened new doors and improved product distribution in New Hampshire and Massachusetts markets.

• Despite pricing pressure from store branded milk, Oakhurst has maintained its price premium without the loss of market share.
• Oakhurst launched the first of its new Oakhurst Plus products, capitalizing on the growing market trend in fortified milks
• Our PR focus on Oakhurst’s environmental and community leadership helped earn them well-deserved recognition from many different sources, including the Governor of Maine, Wal-mart, Cool Air, Clean Planet and the Salvation Army.

 

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