When MilkPEP (Milk Processor Education Program) conducted a study that found more teens choosing soda over milk, lending to the obesity problem in the U.S., they decided that revamping their teen Web site would be the best solution.
Weber Shandwick, an international firm with offices in Baltimore, handled the task of making the teen site, www.bodybymilk.com, more interactive. “Rather than going to a Web site and reading facts, we wanted more of an experience where the user interacts more with the concept and is not so static,” Weber Shandwick group manager Tom Rowe said.
In partnership with Draft Worldwide and Lowe & Partners Worldwide, the firm came up with the concept of an online auction where teens can use UPC codes to gather points to bid on items from brands such as Adidas, Baby Phat, Fender, Epic and more. “We are creating a new sort of currency, and on the site just by checking out some of the features, you can earn extra points,” Rowe said. “Like if you click on [soccer player] David Beckham, you get a point. If you take the milk quiz, you get five points.”
A soft launch on Aug. 1 was sent out to a smaller group, “to get a buzz generated,” Rowe said, adding that the initial response has been good. “We?ve had a lot of people sign up and engage in the auction, a lot of people collecting points. The feedback from the client has also been really positive.”
“I think the Web site in combination with the auction program was just one of the best newest attempts to engage teenagers that I?ve seen from any sort of marketing firm,” Senior Vice President of Marketing for MilkPEP Tom Nagle said. “The real benefit we get is from the integration of all these agencies. We are so tremendously proud of this group.”
The Web site also includes features where kids can upload their own images and give themselves a milk mustache and forums where kids can post their own messages about healthy lifestyles to the site.
CONTACT THE AGENCY
» Weber Shandwick
1010 Hull St., Suite 100, Baltimore
» 410-558-2100
» baltimore.webershandwick.com
