Milk campaign on cards
Milk campaign on cards
By Catherine Hughes
AN effective milk advertising campaign, which would cost the industry £10m-15m a year, could boost liquid milk sales in Britain by 135m litres, or 2.25%, and increase producer prices by 0.24p/l, according to a report.
Produced for the Milk Devel-opment Council and the NFU, the report also concluded that such an investment could give a net return to farmers of £4.76 for every £1 spent.
Earlier this year, £6m was the figure first mooted to run an effective advertising campaign, split equally between processors and producers. But that amount, the reports authors claimed, would have a much lower impact on the milk market.
If the industry adopted the new proposal, liquid dairies would also benefit to the tune of £8m from the increased throughput. The report, prepared by economic consultants MMD, also said the consequential drop in the volume of milk available to the manufacturing sector would cost it near to £1m in lost profit.
Although both the NFU and MDC support a generic marketing campaign, believing it capable of producing significant returns to the industry, they caution that farmers also bear the greatest risk because they cannot predict exactly how consumers will act.
The report, Research into the Generic Marketing of Milk, will now go out for consultation to all NFU members so that an informed decision can be made by milk producers. If, by the end of September, farmers decide to back the idea, MAFF will be approached and asked to carry out a producer poll into whether generic advertising should go ahead. The MDC would collect the levy, although details of funding, and whether it should be split between producers and industry, have not been revealed.
Milk has one of the lowest advertising expenditures in absolute terms and in relation to its market size of any food product in the UK. In 1996/7, milk advertising totalled £2.7m compared with £25m in 1987. The breakfast cereal industry spent over £100m and soft drinks manufacturers more than £60m on product promotion in 1996/7. *