In 2022, Silk Nextmilk® made its debut on shelves, creating a unique segment within the category by offering a dairy-like experience. With low trial due to consumer skepticism of the category and product, Silk Nextmilk had to restage a launch to breakthrough with consumers in a culturally relevant way.

Habits are hard to change, but we embarked on a mission to turn plant-based skeptics into believers, aiming to change perception and get younger consumers to engage with Silk Nextmilk for their treasured dairy moments. We created a 360º creative campaign that:

• Highlighted the great taste of Silk Nextmilk and “out of the glass” usage occasions

• Was multicultural at its core

• Drove cultural relevance through social

The objective: Collaborate with diverse, influential voices to inspire the next generation of milk drinkers and plant-based enthusiasts to try Silk Nextmilk – made from plants, tastes like milk.

To position Silk Nextmilk as the milk for both dairy lovers and plant-based enthusiasts, we cast the children of celebs who we considered to be faces of the next generation to wear our plant-based Silk ‘staches, launching a talent-led campaign to reach diverse younger millennials and Gen Z consumers across the U.S. with a message that encouraged them to swap traditional dairy for Silk Nextmilk.

Silk has a tremendous legacy and continues to be at the forefront of the plant-based movement, advancing taste, texture, and innovation to exceed consumers’ expectations. Silk Nextmilk is another example of the brand’s commitment to making plant-based eating more approachable and accessible.

We set out to reach the next generation of milk drinkers and plant-based enthusiasts – Millennials and Gen Z – by encouraging them to swap traditional dairy for Silk Nextmilk.

An integrated rollout across earned, paid and owned channels introduced consumers to the faces of this plant-based generation in unavoidable, digital-first ways within 48 hours:

• Digital Out-of-Home placements in NYC, LA, Vegas

• Media blitz, including talent interviews

• Social content series, including incentivizing consumers with free Nextmilk and being featured on a Times Square billboard

• People.com takeover

• Customized integrations, including Jimmy Kimmel Live!, GMA

• Display and retail placements

We had a strategic, multi-phased PR plan in place to ensure maximum coverage right out of the gate – within 48 hours – with sustained momentum for several weeks:

• Digital and broadcast exclusives with PEOPLE Magazine & Access Hollywood

• Interviews with talent and women’s interest, lifestyle, and multicultural media under embargo and in the days (& weeks) after launch

• On-site interviews with Myles O’Neal while he spun tunes at a Danone event in NYC + Zoom interviews with the O’Neal family

• Thought-leadership interviews for key marketing and ad trades

• Broadcast media tour with Brooklyn Beckham under embargo the day before launch (2/21) with appearances on The Jennifer Hudson Show and E! News

• NYC media tour with Ella Bleu Travolta, Sailor Brinkley Cook following launch day (2/23), including an earned TODAY Show segment

Earned coverage included 256 placements (online, social, broadcast) and 5.4+ billion impressions.

Silk remains the number one plant-based beverage brand in household penetration and repeat buyers, plus continues to bring in the most new buyers to the category.

Helping continue to fuel this leadership, earned media coverage for this campaign included hundreds of stories and billions of impressions:

• 256 placements across online, social and broadcast; 208 placements within 48 hours of launch

• 5.4+ billion earned impressions to date

• Continued new interest from media more than two weeks into the launch

• Sampling of top coverage includes Access Hollywood, Buzzfeed News, Delish, E! News, Forbes, MUSE by Clio, PEOPLE, The Daily Mail, The Jennifer Hudson Show, The TODAY Show, Essence, and more.

Ongoing consumer awareness is measured on a quarterly basis, therefore we do not yet have audience outcomes available to share.