Marking a successful start to the Milk Processor Education Program’s five-year sponsorship with the United States Olympic Committee and Team USA, milk processors and the dairy industry ran a powerful race during the recent Olympic Games in Rio. By the closing ceremony this past Sunday, the industry’s efforts had garnered more than two billion impressions, three million video views and nearly 300,000 engagements on social media.

Impressions measure the number of times the marketing content is displayed or viewed. Engagement tracks the number of interactions that people have with the content, such as likes, retweets, comments and shares.

“In our first year, we've helped put milk in the spotlight alongside some of the nation's top brands and companies, supporting U.S. athletes as they train and compete on the world's stage,” said Julia Kadison, CEO of MilkPEP. “Throughout the Games, Milk Life's integrated national marketing campaign reinforced how a lifetime of hard work – and milk – helps build champions and established an authentic and emotional connection with consumers.”

The inaugural team of seven athletes powered by milk included Kristin Armstrong, a cyclist and mom who earned her third consecutive gold medal in cycling at the age of 43, following winning performances in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012. Another was Danell Leyva, a world-class gymnast who won silver medals at the Rio Olympics for men’s parallel bars and the horizontal bar. Read more about Team Milk here.

High Industry Involvement

The partnership spurred unprecedented industry activation as IDFA joined more than 50 milk processors and others in the dairy industry to amplify the powerful sponsorship. The industry shared hundreds of stories about Team Milk across a variety of social media channels and brought the partnership to life in stores, through events, online and more. Learn more here about the integrated marketing campaign.

Next Event? Rio 2016 Paralympic Games

Other members of Team USA are gearing up to compete in the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games Sept. 7-18. Joining Team Milk is Mallory Weggemann, U.S. Paralympic swimmer and winner of both gold and bronze medals at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Stay tuned to Milk Life’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram channels for exciting content supporting Weggemann on her journey. For more information and updates, visit www.milklife.com/teamusa.

“As we continue on this momentous journey with our five-year partnership with the U.S. Olympic Committee, we look forward to helping drive demand, consumption and sales for the milk industry,” Kadison said.

For more information, contact Christine Thompson, marketing manager for MilkPEP, at cthompson@milkpep.org.