The Transcreation of the 1993 Got Milk Campaign

Pastel de tres leches. Arroz con leche. Cafe con Leche. Leche y amor in every bite. All different types of milk recipes have been ingrained in our culture for decades due to the foods our mami, tia's, and papa’s did for us growing up. In 2006, Grupo Gallegos, a whole service marketing agency group, was tasked to create a Spanish-language campaign targeting Spanish-speaking families to enhance the purchase of milk. The “Toma Leche “ (Drink Milk) campaign was initiated to promote the consumption of milk, especially in countries like Spain and Latin American nations. This campaign's objective was to highlight the nutritional benefits of the beverage, encourage people to drink it more often, and focus on its significant benefits, such as bone health, body growth, and brain development. 

The "Got Milk" campaign gained momentum as time passed, making marketers transcreate some strategies that positively impacted the dairy industry while reflecting and celebrating Hispanic, Latino, and other Spanish-speaking cultures, such as high representation of celebrities in the commercials. It was very clear that the strategy for their target demographic was predefined to ensure that it would resonate with Spanish-speaking families. While it may have directly targeted your tia, it also reached you in subtle, indirect ways—ways you might not have noticed. Let us break down the history of how they achieved this.

Schools were considered a massive partnership due to the target demographic of younger populations; officials pushed for milk to be a part of the dietary guidelines. The marketing campaign was hugely successful because it often used catchy slogans, funny ads, and public figures to encourage milk-drinking habits. The campaign utilized humor to highlight the multiple benefits of milk, aligning with the successful strategies of the original English-language "Got Milk?" campaign. 

In the mid-90s, the United States Department of Agriculture, specifically the dairy industry, was in a freefall. Demand was low. Stocks were low, affecting sales. This decline caused them to think of a plan to save it urgently. Therefore, innovative marketers gathered and took on this new, creative, data-driven campaign, launching the "Got Milk" campaign. Before you even heard of the “Toma Leche” campaign, the likelihood of first hearing about the “Got Milk” campaign was very high. The first thing that marketers wanted to figure out was why there was such a decline, one of them being that Americans were dining out more, causing them to skip milk replacing it with soda or bottled beverages, causing an increase for Coca-Cola,  Pepsi, and surprising enough sweet tea reaching their peak between 1970 - 1980 (Sauveur, 2022). The bottled beverage peak and the enormous milk industry decline caused tension between local farmers and large beverage corporations. The United States government and local farmers decided to spend 23 million dollars on a marketing campaign that could have broken the industry or saved it. The campaign launched with its very first ad using "Aaron Burr," a television advertisement for milk created in 1993. It was the first commercial in the "Got Milk?" advertising campaign, directed by Michael Bay and starring Sean Whalen (YouTube, 2009). The ad could have been considered weird and wicked, yet it successfully ran many more through various media outlets. 

In addition, the “Got Milk” campaign launched by using different media outlets to run the entire $23 million budget it had for it, resulting in an increase in milk sales in California by 7.7% in just the first year; this campaign halted the decline in milk sales that had been ongoing for 20 years. For the long term, the campaign saved the industry an estimated $255 million (Saveur, 2023). Viewing the results that the campaign had, the California Processor Board decided they wanted to continue this for Spanish-speaking families - adopting their historical roots and culture to the campaign, bringing in different strategies, titling the campaign "Toma Leche”, translating into Drink Milk instead of “Got Milk”, important key of transcreation and correct copywriting. The campaign was built on educating Spanish-speaking families on the health benefits - making it evident who their target audience was based on the campaign title. 

Many families were unaware of these health benefits and/or the importance of milk in a balanced diet. They saw it as an ingredient that had to be added to our tres leches cake, which benefited all sweet lovers. The campaign primarily aimed to combat issues like lower milk consumption rates among Hispanic populations, who were found to consume less dairy compared to other groups. 

The slogan, ad, and commercials used for this campaign were Spanish. Still, it went above and beyond to clarify that this was their target audience, which was partnering with community organizations to help increase awareness. Among the most significant discussions the Hispanic community highlighted were the different celebrities in each ad, such as Salma Hayek, Carlos Vives, Bricia López, and Julissa Calderón. Most of these celebrities brought their season to each ad commercial; for example, Bricia Lopez, who is well known for her recipes, created and showcased Mexican recipes; she did not just endorse milk; she showed audiences how to incorporate it into delicious, culturally cherished dishes. Then there was Carlos Vives, whose soulful voice brought the campaign a melodic, nostalgic touch. These figures were not random endorsers; they were already beloved in Hispanic households for their talent, tradition, and authenticity. Instead of simply selling milk, they seamlessly wove the Toma Leche message they were already known for, making it feel natural and familiar in the media but in the most authentic manner. Most of our family members received the message of milk's benefits, making the idea of having leche in our refrigerator a consistent thing both short- and long-term and continuing generations. 

In summary, the “Toma Leche” campaign was so successful that it laid the foundation for many marketers to transcreate other marketing campaigns specific to Spanish-speaking audiences, learning that sometimes adopting concepts will not always hit the same level when they are intentional in a particular audience. It shifted people's perspectives, forcing people to understand the value Hispanics have in increasing sales for any industry when marketing campaigns are intentional and authentic

The question is: How will future marketing campaigns adapt to diverse audiences in an even more globalized, digital world while learning the importance of authenticity to each marketing campaign?