This presentation sets our how dairy farmers can get involved in DairyCo's consumer campaign to promote the public image of dairy farming.

1. Promoting dairy farming

2. Our public facing work – objectives
• “Maintain/improve the perception of (British) dairy
farming aiming to engender a positive impression of
British dairy farming and dairy farmers among the
public”
• “Improve the level of knowledge amongst children of
school age about primary food production sourced
from a sustainable dairy industry”

3. ‘Brand’ dairy farming

4. In a nutshell
• Public Relations: Develop relationships with Media, NGO’s & other
stakeholders – influence industry reputation/image, manage issues
& place positive stories – reactive & proactive
• Schools and education: Provision of free education resources to
teachers. Supporting farmers with tips, advice and tools to help open
farm gates to schools and consumers of all ages.
• Digital/Social Media: Increase engagement with DairyCo’s online
content, increase traffic & retain search engine optimisation
• Support farmers with engaging with the public: Support farmers
with tips, advice and tools to engage with the public and media
• Undertake research/gather evidence: Track consumer views,
monitor media coverage and update our bank of ‘Issue Statements’

5. “We are about to ‘ramp it up’!”…
…#DiscoverDairy
‘It’s in our hands’

6. Call to action
The “It’s in our hands” campaign is all about taking the
stories and experiences of real life farmers and cows to
the consumer to educate, gain support and ultimately to
ask them to take action - through pledging to look out for
a quality logo such as the Red Tractor on the dairy items
they buy.

7. Campaign Essence
• Dairy farming touches our everyday lives in more ways
than we know and appreciate
• We can help protect the future of dairy farming in Britain
through small actions
• Look out for the Red Tractor quality logo on your dairy
produce to do your bit

8. The Plan
• A regional-based, touring “#DiscoverDairy” experience
containing our messaging with interactive displays with
supporting PR, Social Media & On-line content
• First event in Nottingham – “It’s in our hands, Nottingham”
• Follow-up regions TBC (to tie in with existing public-facing
regional events/shows)

9. Campaign Spokespeople
• The Herd
o The face/s of the campaign
o 5 Red Tractor cows representing breed and geographic diversity
o Each cow to have it’s own identity, personality and backstory
• The Farmers
o 5 Red Tractor farmers from different regions of GB represented at key
events
o Multiple Red Tractor farmers profiled for each region through media
coverage

10. Ideas for ‘The Herd’

11. The #DiscoverDairy Experience
• Exploring the world of dairy farming
• Fun facts and statistics about dairy farming
• The real-life stories of our dairy farmers
• Profiles on local farmers, their cows and their families
• Understand and become familiar with Red Tractor
• Touch-screen interactive game
• Creation of regional-specific cows for each event with relevant
messaging
• Make a pledge
• Make a digital pledge to locking a personal padlock to a Red
Tractor farm

12. The key to the success
of the campaign is
communicating your
message in engaging ways.
We want the public
to get a sense of the
passion and commitment
of the industry.
So that’s why we are putting YOU at its heart!
The #DiscoverDairy Experience

13. ‘It’s in our hands’ PR storytelling
• We know from our research…
• People are increasingly willing to do more to support
their local dairy farmers, particularly looking out for Red
Tractor
• More than two-thirds of people see dairy farming as the
backbone of rural life
• Nearly 30% of people want to see more farm stories in
their local media

14. So what can I do to get
involved….?

15. What we need from you the farmers
‘It’s in our hands’
• We see this as a method of communicating each dairy farmer's story.
Farmer's hands help us tell an emotive story that's unique and
personal to each individual. Your story, your livelihood, your heritage,
is written all over your hands.
• Hands can denote a sense of hard work and determination, but also a
softness and affection in the way you care for your cows.
• We would like you to photograph (and film) close ups of your hands at
work and send them to us, via Twitter or email.
We have some ideas of what will work best…

16. Types of images - 1
Visual theme = Everyday activities
Potential images include:
• Turning alarm off at crack of dawn
• Making breakfast with dairy products
• Putting wellies on
• Attaching milk clusters
• Opening farm gates
• Shaking hands with vet etc.
• Feeding the cows
• Washing dirt of their hands/wellies
• Fixing items
• NOTE: Photographs and videos should focus on close ups of hands & not include brand logos
where possible

17. Types of images - 2
Visual theme – Environment
Potential images could be:
• Cutting the hedgerows
• Driving tractor along the field edges
• setting up fences for wildlife corridors
• NOTE: Photographs and video should focus on
close ups of hands & not include brand logos where possible

18. Types of images - 3
Visual theme – Animal/farm life
Potential images could be:
• Stroking cows hide
• Cow licking farmer’s hands
• Feeding
• Checking health of calves
• Newborn calves (sensitively taken)
• Adding a winning rosette to the cow
• NOTE: Photographs and video should focus on close ups of hands &
not include brand logos where possible

19. Types of images - 4
Visual theme – Generations
• Mother/Father/Son/Daughter working together, i.e. father showing a son how
to attach milking clusters
• Generations of cows with generations of farmers mirrored
NOTE: Photographs and video should focus on close ups of hands & not include
brand logos where possible

20. Types of images - 5
Asset themes – Community
• Talking to press/ doing interviews
• Talking with local community
• Farmers markets/ village fetes
• Working with other farmers (farmer meetings)
NOTE: Photographs and video should focus on close ups of hands & not include brand
logos where possible

21. What we need to know about you
Examples of information to help us when speaking to
journalists:
– New practices on your dairy farm in the last year,
such as new technology?
– Interesting facts about the history or location of your
farm e.g. my family generations
– My herd is now X cows with both X & X breeds
– I studied at an agricultural college
– Ways you work with your local community/public and
any previous involvement with media
Please contact us on 024 7647 8695 to discuss getting involved

22. What has DairyCo’s
approach been to date?

23. Public relations
Proactive media relations: Giving
journalists positive news and expert comment.
Reactive media relations: Managing
incoming media enquiries.
Crisis media relations: Handling sensitive
issues & crisis that attract media attention.
Media training: Preparing staff and
ambassadors to talk to the media.
Horizon scanning: Identifying and preparing
for media opportunities/interest.
Visible activity
Unseen activity

24. #DiscoverDairy - online
• Promote a positive image of dairy farming
• Address industry image issues
• Engage public in the ‘human’/behind the
scenes side of dairy farming
• Educate school children and teachers

25. #DiscoverDairy – online
Cow and Job of the month

26. #DiscoverDairy – online
Discover Dairy – Video content
• 106,500 visits during 2014
• Over 230,000 pages viewed
• Jan compared to last yr visits up
20%
Our videos
• Had over 100,000 views in 2014
• That equated to over 145,000
minutes of video being watched

27. #DiscoverDairy – online
Support, Engage & Sign up

28. What the @thisisdairy account is used for:
• Behind the scenes tweets & images from around the farm
• Links back to featured farmer profiles on consumer website
• Dairy farming facts
• Links to posts/news/articles from thisisdairyfarming.com
• Timely issue management
#DiscoverDairy - Farmer Ambassadors

29. #DiscoverDairy - Social media
The most impactful tweets from 2014 featured engaging high-quality cow
images and creative (sometimes humorous) captions.

30. Working with other industry partners
With industry partners
• Agreed promotional messages to ensure consistency through
campaign alignment and delivery e.g. Trust the Tractor
• Through provision of free resources for educational professionals
• Support dairy farmers who look to open farm gates for visits or at
agricultural shows/events

31. Staying in the loop
• Sign up for All Things Dairy newsletter
• Register for the Red Tractor newsletter
• Look out for consumer related articles in key titles
• Follow us on Twitter - @AHDB_DairyCo
• Sign up for our ‘Moos In The News’ eNewsletter
• Request an open meeting – Contact us
• Follow @thisisdairy on Twitter to see how we
promote your industry to the public