Dortmund Concert Milk
Issue 21 | December 2011
Agency
Jung von Matt
Creative Team
Sascha Hanke, Wolf Heumann Head Creative Directors; Tobias Grimm, Jens Pfau, Jo Marie Farwick, Creative Direction, Damjan Pita Art Direction; Nicolas Schmidt-Fitzner, Sven Gabriel Graphic Design; Henning Robert, Jan-Hendrik Scholz Text
Other Credits
Jochen Schwarz Account Director; Dajana Quurk, Sascha Kurfiss Project Managers; Marijke Fisser, Junior Project Manager, Meike van Meegan Film Producer; Liane Siebenhaar, Planning, Silvio Helbig Film Director; Markenfilm, Film Production, Mhoch4 PR Agency
Date
2010 - 2011
Background
Traditionally, a new season at the Dortmund Concert Hall is launched with special guest performers and a press conference. But this year, there was a change of plan. Instead of sparkling wine and other cold drinks, bottled milk awaited the guests on the firstnight. And artistic director Benedikt Stampa stood on stage waving a cow bell to usher in the new season.
Milk? Cow bells? What in the world did that have to do with classical music?
Idea
“Did you know that cows produce more milk when they listen to classical music?”
With these words, Sascha Hanke, Creative Director of Jung von Matt/Elbe, pitched the agency’s idea to the managers of Dortmund Concert Hall. It wasn't so much an advertising idea as a communications business plan.
The idea was to select works from the 2010-2011 concert programme and play those works to the cows of the region. The milk they produced would be sold as Dortmund Concert Milk.
In other words, music can be listened to and enjoyed in any concert hall. But only at the Dortmund Concert Hall can you taste the music!
“The client took to the idea very quickly – convincing farmers to get involved was much harder,” recalled Jochen Schwarz, Account Director.
However, a farm was found and the milk packaged, every bottle telling the story and promoting the concert hall.
Results
There was much PR generated by the story. Concert Milk was featured in blogs and news around the world. It inspired people who otherwise hardly encounter classical music to listen and even to go to a concert. For Dortmund Concert Hall itself, the idea increased subscriptions by 19% and theatre occupancy to 72%.
Sales of the milk are now making a profit, an example of an idea that, literally, is paying for itself.
Our Thoughts
Every now and then you have an idea where you say to
yourself “This is so crazy, it just might work.” The team
at Jung von Matt have one of those ideas right here.
To ignite interest in an orchestra and its concert hall
by performing a concerto to cows and then bottling the
musically-modified milk is crazy. But it worked. And I
wants me some of that milk.
(This campaign is now over a year old and while
Directory usually only publishes work that’s hot off the
presses, we loved this campaign so much we made
an exception.)