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Challenge & Objective
Milk has enjoyed a few thousand years at the top.
So even though Oatly has been selling oat-based dairy alternatives since the early 90’s, you can see why it still feels fairly new.
We needed to make people aware of the brand and their Oat Drink Semi product and encourage the audience to try it out instead of milk.
Not just as a drink but as a milk replacement in (almost) all instances.
Strategy
Oatly isn’t afraid of being honest.
In a world of carefully curated corporate reputations Oatly cuts through by being transparent and thus more trustworthy.
For example, their Oat Drink Semi is the perfect milk alternative most times… but it probably doesn’t work in all instances.
And they’re not afraid of admitting that, which became the big idea: Oatly Works In (Almost) Everything.
To deliver this message online, they needed an authentic channel: content creators on social media. They’re more trusted by our audience to deliver honest reviews than any brand’s message. Why? Because they’re closer to the audience than brands will ever be.
67% of respondents agreed that the closer the messenger is to a person, the more they trust them in the later stages of their knowledge journey (which starts with awareness and ends with a decision) - Ad Council’s 2022 Trusted Messenger Study
63% of US and 58% of UK GenZ audiences trust the product recommendations of content creators (Reaching the Unreachables, 2022)
62% of US and 57% of UK GenZ audiences trust product recommendations of people who follow the same content creators (Reaching the Unreachables, 2022)
We sourced 46 creators to reach our broad audience range across seven markets (Austria, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland & United Kingdom).
The target audience were of all generations over 18, had a variety of interests and, of course, weren’t only plant-based consumers.
Our diverse creator selection reflected the audience’s unique and diverse passions and POVs, such as magicians, comedians, anime artists and traditional foodie creators.
They were briefed to produce fun, authentic and entertaining recipe-themed content on Instagram and TikTok, where our audience goes for #foodinspo.
We wanted them to create in their own style, have fun with it and really put Oatly to the test in all sorts of recipes.
Execution
We collaborated with some of the biggest names in the social (and IRL) food scene to really put Oatly on the map including:
@thomas_straker, the butter guy on TikTok and respected chef who’s the darling of West London fine dining.
@poppy_cooks Michelin-trained chef, Potato Queen and MOB kitchen alumni who’s Oatly video went viral!
@whatwillycook the hilarious Gen Z cook creating stress-free dishes and went all out for Oatly with a catchy musical number.
From breakfast to chai, tingly ASMR to sumptuous cinematography, milk rolls to national dishes it was all delicious.
Well, not all. One creator presented an instance when our oat-based alternative just wasn’t the right ingredient.
The audience appreciated creators’ honesty and Oatly being open to the truth - a refreshing treat for social media.
We knew the overwhelming majority of recipes would work with Oatly Oat Drink Semi and the creators proved it for example:
Like @MrsFlury in Switzerland who used Oatly in 3 different recipes, proving the product’s versatility and demonstrating how to get real value for money.
And @jo.semola in Germany who took Oatly head on with a dish with ‘milk’ in its name (milk rolls). He gave the challenge a very fun twist and successfully tested the product’s capabilities.
In all cases, the brand and products were prominently displayed and interacted with on camera and mentioned in captions for extra brand recall.
Results
Direct brand messages work in almost every medium but when it comes to socials, creators proved they’re the best alternative…
13.1 million organic Views.
2.8 years (1,047 days) of Playtime. Or the time it takes to hand milk 300,000 cows.
11.48 million Reach
788,000+ total Engagements
97,700+ Link clicks
@Poppycook’s video went VIRAL with 7.8 million organic Views!
Our organic content was naturally engaging with a far reach:
+51% Higher than our TikTok benchmark for Avg. View Engagement Rate (VER) in the food & beverage category (8.47% vs 5.6%).
Higher than our overall TikTok Avg. VER benchmark (8.47% vs 8%).
+88% Higher than our Instagram benchmark for Avg. Follower Reach Rate (FRR) (55% vs. 29.3%).
Audience Appreciation
“first ad thats made me actually want to buy something”
“Right, I’m off to my local corner shop to get myself some oatly”
“this is the most creativ ad ever”
“I tried it and it was absolutely fantastic😁”
“Very very good approach. Not everything has to be vegan, but where it's easily replaceable, it makes sense. thank you for that”
“Top tier ad”
“Oh we love when people can have full creative freedom in their ADs 😂🙌🏽”
“Oatly is always the right choice 🙌”
“I love Oatly 😍 the oat milk?!? Delicous!”
‘Oatly is my favourite company”
“Its very good, i love their products 🥰”
“i love Oatly in media”
“Everything in this video is so dreamy 😊”
“this made my day idc why”
“Loved the energy of this video 🤣🤣🤣”
“i need to drink oatly”
“Wwwwwwwoooooowwwwwwww I'll do that tomorrow. Thanks for the recipe. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻”
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