Over the last year, Communiqué PR has been working with Darigold, a dairy co-op, and in that time we have promoted its new naturally white cheddar cheese, planned and hosted an event for the Sunnyside Plant expansion, and shared an abundance of delicious Darigold recipes. After a year of great results highlighting the products, the company and its growth, we wanted to direct some attention to the heart of the corporation: the farmer-owners.
Darigold is a farmer-owned co-op and for those of you who don’t know what that means, the farmers that supply the milk for all Darigold products own the company. Darigold has about 500 farmer-owners, making it one of the largest co-ops in the country. It also means that at the core of Darigold is a group of farmers who are passionate about their farms, their cows and ultimately the milk they provide to consumers. As a partner to the organization, we get to see this passion and dedication firsthand and we thought it only fair that others experience it as well.
Working closely with the team at Darigold, we decided to organize a farm tour that would allow us to share a behind-the-scenes look at where it all begins, a dairy farm. As we planned the tour, there were a few things to consider.
- Who should we take on the tour? For the farm tour, we ultimately decided to invite bloggers to attend for a couple of reasons. With a farm tour, we knew that we would have to drive for at least an hour (in this case two) out of the city and with reporters on deadline, we felt bloggers would be able to work this into their schedule with more ease. Another reason we opted to go with bloggers is the relationship they have with their audience. Consumers often turn to them for suggestions, ideas and reviews on different products as if the blogger is a friend. Lastly, with a little more creative freedom than traditional outlets, we felt that the bloggers would be able to share more openly about their personal experience at the farm and how seeing this side of Darigold influenced their feelings towards the brand and its products.
- Where should we hold the tour? As I mentioned, Darigold has a lot of options when it comes to farms! Distance ultimately eliminated a large portion of the farms. The bloggers that we had invited all have children and needed to ensure that this was only a day trip. With that in mind, we still had an array of options but decided on a farm that was a reasonable distance to drive for a day trip and had experience in hosting tours. I have to admit, I’ve never hosted a farm tour, so I didn’t know what elements of a farm to show off or the order in which we should share information about the farm and how it operates. Luckily, the Coldstream Farm in Demming, Wash., had experience in hosting tours and this allowed us to lean on their experience and expertise in hosting the tour.
- How can we ensure it’s a positive experience? We knew going into it that Coldstream Farms was going to do a wonderful job hosting the event but we wanted to ensure that we had thought of every detail. First, we held a call with Darigold, Coldstream Farms, and the team at Communiqué. On the call, Coldstream shared unique qualities about their farm, state of the art technology and important measures they take to ensure the cows’ health and happiness. With this information, we were able share with Coldstream the important messages Darigold as a company wanted to communicate with consumers and how they tied back to their efforts on the farms. Once we established the key messages and the key aspects of the farm, we built an agenda for the tour that would help manage our time and provide the bloggers with a cohesive narrative. Planning this in advance of the tour allowed for a seamless and smooth event that the bloggers enjoyed. Following the tour, we reached out to all the bloggers to ensure they had all the information they needed for their posts.
Overall, the event was a great success—and a lot of fun, not only for the bloggers but also for me! Sometimes we get caught up in the same routine and strategies, but it’s important to remember to continue thinking outside the box and developing creative ways to tell your clients’ stories. Of course, the traditional methods of outreach will continue to play an important role, but providing a unique experience for media to enjoy will give them with an opportunity to interact with the brand and share their experience with their audience.
Below are a couple of the blog posts that resulted from the tour with more to come!