Dortmund Concert Milk

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.)