Milk producers’ ad body founders

The milk producers’ advertising consortium, set up in the aftermath of deregulation, has collapsed, forcing members to seek their own agencies.

The group, which operated under the strapline “int milk brilliant”, was set up three months after the demise of the Milk Marketing Board, which had co-ordinated generic ad campaigns. Founding members were Unigate, Waterford Dairies, MD Foods, Associated Co-operative Creameries, Dale Farm & Express Dairies and Lincoln Co-op.

Last year, Unigate and Waterford broke away, with Unigate appointing DMB&B for its own branding campaign. Dale Farm has since quit, and has shortlisted Cheetham Bell, Advertising Principles and HJSW Partnership for a 3m campaign.

Now the remaining members of the consortium, operating under the auspices of the National Dairy Council, will have to appoint their own agencies, instead of benefiting from generic ads produced by BMP DDB.

A National Dairy Council spokeswoman says: “It’s a shame. We would have liked to help co-ordinate more campaigns for them.”

Alex Robertson, marketing director for Dale Farm, adds: “The members simply couldn’t agree on strategy.” He believes individual producers must target their advertising more tightly to fight increasing competition and the continuing decline of doorstep delivery.

The consortium’s 1.4m budget has been handled since 1988 by BMP DDB.