In the Dairy Case
Did you know your daily dose of dairy can reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as kidney stones, colon cancer and high blood pressure? To make sure consumers do
know it, the good people at BSMG Worldwide began bombarding the media five years ago with "Nutrition and Health News Alerts" on behalf of their client, the National Dairy Council
(NDC). It's a strategy that has since resulted in more than 400 million national media impressions, and has increased reporter usage of NDC's Web site seven-fold.
Got Ink?
NDC, based in Rosemont, Ill., tapped BSMG in late 1996 for help in positioning its experts as "go-to" sources for consumer reporters and editors. "[W]e have really recognized
that the media is the number-one source for nutrition information for consumers," explains NDC's PR director Ann Marie Krautheim.
Ironically, BSMG found, the best way to get its client's research findings in print was to be the first to publish them. The agency team knew that editors and reporters
wouldn't swallow the NDC story unless the organization offered something of substance (i.e., a newsy, content-rich resource). Trouble was, they needed to package meaningful
content in a way that would appeal to women's magazines and other consumer titles whose formats rely heavily on bite-sized chunks of information. The solution: A two-page news
alert that now goes out to key health reporters every other month. Each alert typically summarizes current dairy-related research, offering short blurbs on as many as six or eight
recent studies. About 1,000 copies of the alert go out - mostly by snail mail, though a few email copies go to editors who have specifically requested electronic delivery. BSMG
backs up its alerts with a Web site - http://www.nationaldairycouncil.org - and a hotline for reporters seeking dairy-news
contacts. The agency manages the site, which is aimed at both media and health professionals. Three BSMG staffers also answer the phone hotline.
Serving Up Data
It is no small feat to get bimonthly news alerts out the door. NDC and its research affiliates around the country gather data and turn it over to eight BSMG staffers, who then
write the copy and package the latest findings in a format designed to catch an editor's eye. The bulk of the campaign's undisclosed budget goes to fund this heavy investment of
staff time. Given its target audience, the BSMG team is careful not to oversell its product. Savvy reporters are wary of overblown claims, and they know how easy it is to trump up
the findings of a single study. As such, BSMG has eschewed a "big bang" approach in announcing NDC study findings, preferring instead to present the research as the incremental,
often un-dramatic animal it really is.
"What we have really learned is that the media wants us to be a resource," says Kim Frazier, a group manager at BSMG, which is the agency of record for this campaign, though
not for all NDC efforts. "The media are out there really looking for a credible source, someone they can trust."
This strategy has proved effective. For example, the L.A. Times picked up on a release that described how calcium consumption in the teen years could help prevent
osteoporosis, and made that finding the basis of an "Eating Smart" column. It may not be earthshaking, but coverage is coverage.
Media Consumption
Journalists have responded positively to the campaign, although BSMG has learned along the way that there is such a thing as too much. In the beginning, the team disseminated
full-page alerts (along with its short blurbs) highlighting particular fields of research. Those pieces were harder to write and editors ignored them. The tactic has since been
dropped. Trial and error efforts also revealed that magazines are better targets than newspapers for the alerts. "The newspapers want things when they are hot, while magazines'
lead time is so much longer, it does not really matter to them if something have been out for a month and a half before they see it," says Frazier. BSMG also sends one to two
VNRs per year to broadcast media outlets as part of its overall campaign, and while the team has not really pursued online media opportunities yet, a spokesperson says it's at the
top of their to-do list.
Payoffs
Since the dairy folk are selling themselves as a media resource (rather than pushing a single research study) the best way to gauge the success of this effort is to look at
media response. In 1999, NDC news alerts generated more than 400 million national print media impressions, with placements in Good Housekeeping, Newsweek, the
L.A. Times, Chicago Tribune and others. The hotline last year received nearly 100 media calls, and, as of two weeks ago, was on target to top that usage in 2000.
Since the Web site launched two years ago, visits have increased from 200 a week to more than 1,400 a week. Most recently, high-profile pubs such as Bon Appetit, Baby
Talk and Self dispatched correspondents to cover an NDC media briefing highlighting calcium.
(BSMG, Laura Chalela, 312/988-2294)
- Adam Katz-Stone
Dual Dairy Roles
BSMG also works on the "Got Milk" ad campaign, a project funded by both the National Dairy Council and the International Dairy Foods Association. The two campaigns are
unrelated, however. The only crossover might come if the "Got Milk" team were to draw from one of the studies cited in the milk news alerts, but this is a rare occurrence.