• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, March 18, 2013

Quarter-century-old farmers’ cooperative Organic Valley is using a television ad for the first time as part of a new campaign tag-lined “Bringing The Good.”

The campaign, the cooperative’s largest to date, centers on the premise that what a dairy cow eats is a critical factor in determining the ultimate quality of the products it produces. 

The creative, from Minneapolis-based branding and advertising agency Solve, conveys the quality of Organic Valley’s organic milk and other dairy products by demonstrating the cooperative’s dedication to keeping its dairy cows in pastures where they eat rich, natural grasses.

The TV spot, dubbed “Mud Pie,” shows the young daughter of an Organic Valley farm family participating in the cooperative’s tradition by carefully growing grass from seeds, in a pie tin, to feed to her family’s cows. 

The spot (viewable on YouTube) will air in 60-second and 30-second versions on the major broadcast networks in about a half-dozen markets that Organic Valley has targeted for market-share growth, according to Corey Johnson, president of Solve.

The campaign also includes radio (also in selected markets); print ads in women’s lifestyle/service magazines such as Martha Stewart Living, Cooking Light and Food Network Magazine; banner ads in food/recipe sites targeted through the Google Ad Network; and social media efforts (mainly through Organic Valley’s Facebook page, currently showing more than 237,000 “likes”), reports Johnson.

La Farge, Wis.-based Organic Valley, the nation’s largest source of organic milk, also produces a wide variety of other organic dairy products (cream, yogurt, butter, cheese, cottage cheese, Stringles string cheese snacks, cream cheese, sour cream and eggs) and organic soy products and orange juices. 

With more than $800 million in sales in 2012, Organic Valley -- which has in the past focused its advertising/marketing primarily on print, with some digital elements -- is “poised for its next phase of growth,” according to the cooperative and Solve.