Milk, Re-imagined for Gen Z

Summary

A major dairy organization sought to reconnect with younger audiences as plant-based competitors gained traction. Through a series of Gen Z–oriented digital campaigns, we led creative strategy, content development, and paid media execution to reposition milk, especially chocolate milk, as relevant, energizing, and culturally resonant. The campaigns, including influencer-led storytelling and university esports partnerships, generated over 160 million impressions and built strong audience engagement across platforms.

Stats

PROBLEM

Dairy consumption was in decline among Gen Z, with traditional marketing losing ground to flashier, plant-based alternatives.; the organization wanted to increase adoption amongst digitally native consumers without alienating its’ existing customer base

SOLUTION

We launched a series of multi-platform campaigns focused on culture, performance, and storytelling, including: TikTok and Instagram campaigns, influencer campaigns, a university-focused esports sponsorship campaign etc

BUSINESS RESULT

160M+ total impressions across four major Gen Z campaigns

PEOPLE RESULT

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Discover

He kicked off by auditing trends, identifying key entry points in performance nutrition, esports, and influencer culture. At the same time, he had to win buy-in from internal stakeholders who were hesitant to deviate from traditional approaches. Through sharp positioning and data-backed proposals, he reframed the challenge: this wasn’t just about milk, it was about regaining cultural relevance.

Jordan worked to identify real opportunities for reentry into Gen Z culture, spaces where milk could show up in unexpected but authentic ways. Performance, gaming, and creator-driven content emerged as the clearest paths. He backed these with platform audits, competitive analysis, and influencer landscape mapping to sharpen the strategic lens.

The result was a clear mandate: modernize the message without losing sight of the farmers who funded it.

Working closely with stakeholders, Jordan surfaced key generational insights around humor, inclusivity, and cultural fluency that was relevant to young audiences. The creative team developed campaigns that met younger audiences where they were while introducing modern messaging tied to nutrition and lifestyle.

Design

With clear insights in hand, Jordan moved into designing a creative strategy that would reposition dairy in a way that felt modern, playful, and culturally relevant. The goal was to meet Gen Z on their turf, with campaigns that felt native to their platforms, interests, and values.

He began by mapping audience behaviors across TikTok, Instagram, and university networks, identifying where dairy could naturally intersect with Gen Z culture. Esports emerged as a clear opportunity: competitive, community-driven, and underleveraged by traditional CPG brands. From this, Jordan developed the foundation for the “Powered by Chocolate Milk” campaign, a hybrid of digital storytelling and in-person brand experiences built around performance, energy, and nostalgia.

He layered in additional verticals to round out the broader creative structure around these proposed ideas:

Influencer campaigns tailored to World Cup momentum and health-based performance narratives
Food and recipe content on SEO-optimized websites and blogs as an evergreen, lifestyle-driven touchpoint
Sweepstakes and email flows to capture owned audience data and drive deeper interaction

Each concept was evaluated against relevance, shareability, and stakeholder alignment. Jordan pressure-tested campaign themes with internal teams to ensure every direction balanced Gen Z appeal with organizational comfort.

By the end of this phase, the roadmap was clear: a cross-channel creative strategy built to punch above its weight, using humor, energy, and cultural cues to reintroduce milk in a way no one saw coming.

Deliver

Jordan led the full campaign rollout, managing paid media across TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, and Google. Each ad set was tailored for platform behavior and target segments, with performance monitored daily and creative refreshes based on real-time results.

On campus, he launched the “Powered by Chocolate Milk” initiative at major esports universities, including Ivy League schools, delivering branded fridges, signage, and co-branded gear timed with tournaments. Jordan organized on-site content production to capture these activations, generating a steady stream of high-quality assets for use across organic and paid channels.

He also oversaw influencer collaborations, aligning creators with key campaign pillars, from performance messaging to cultural relevance, and repurposing their content for additional reach.

To drive long-term value, Jordan supported a recipe sub-brand, managed SEO-optimized blog content, and created evergreen campaign tracks via email and sweepstakes. Internally, he delivered quarterly reports to stakeholders and investor committees, spotlighting wins, surfacing insights, and securing buy-in for future iterations.

The campaign was a model for modern CPG marketing, bridging physical activation, digital scale, and creator-driven storytelling.

Conclusion

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