Midwest Dairy teamed up with Hy-Vee to launch an innovative cheese-focused tailgating campaign last fall. The campaign was designed to inspire fans to elevate their game day celebrations by showcasing cheese’s versatility and highlighting vendor-sponsored recipes spanning the dairy department, specialty aisles, and deli counters. In 2023, cheese consumption reached an all-time high of 42.3 pounds per person, making it the perfect time to kick off football season with cheesy recipes specifically designed for tailgating.
The campaign centered on six crowd-pleasing recipes tailored for game day gatherings. These recipes included Philly Cheesesteak Pull-Apart Bread, Buffalo Bacon Blue Cheese Sliders, Tailgate Breakfast Nachos, Candied Bacon N Cheese Sliders, Cottage Cheese Buffalo Chicken Dip, and Tailgate Sliders. Each recipe showcased cheese’s versatility to entice shoppers to explore new and delicious ways to incorporate it into their tailgating menus. Hy-Vee strategically selected cheese vendor sponsors from across the region, delivering value through targeted promotions in multiple departments.
The campaign reached consumers both in-store and online through a combination of on-site and off-site advertising strategies. The off-site advertising initiative extended Hy-Vee’s influence across 14,000 publishers and over 10,000 websites. The campaign lasted one month and yielded outstanding results. Over two million consumers engaged with the campaign, delivering 1,387,830 incremental pounds of milk through cheese sales.
This campaign demonstrated the power of collaboration between Midwest Dairy and Hy-Vee, positioning cheese as a hero ingredient to unite fans around flavorful game day traditions. By blending creative recipes, effective promotions, and strategic partnerships, the initiative elevated tailgating celebrations and drove significant sales and consumer engagement.