Muller
Leveraging local engagement
In a context of increasing consumer interest in ethical, environmental and social issues and significant pressure from retailers to be more environmental and socially responsible, Muller was perceived in the UK as an imported dairy brand with no ethical or social position. The Sociovation® process we conducted for Müller UK identified that, in reality, 90% of its milk is sourced from within a 30 mile radius of its dairy in Shropshire. This offered the opportunity to develop “local goodness” as a central platform for the Muller brand.
Goodbrand worked with Muller to create a communication platform based on local goodness in order to establish UK identity, highlight the freshness of the product, lower food miles and gain the support of UK dairy farmers. In addition, we implemented with Muller a cost savings programme based on eco-efficient measures, achieving credibility by working with a wide range of stakeholders. Supply of milk was secured by deploying new dairy farm contracts, including a risk assessment of suppliers based on ethical considerations. Since the campaign, Müller UK has had the highest MAT value and volume share of the last 3 years.
Müller has also initiated a holistic business change management process, and has signed up with WRAP and Carbon Trust. As a result of these actions, Müller has been able to measure the total carbon footprint of a yogurt and has set energy, packaging and waste reduction targets.
“GoodBrand has played a major part in helping to develop Müller's CSR strategy, encouraging us to look beyond our carbon footprint to the wider impacts, both social and economic. Following this methodology has enabled Müller to identify three powerful masterbrand messages; 'made in Shropshire', '90% of our milk comes from within 30 miles of our dairy' and '24 hours from farm to yogurt’.” – Stewart Gilliland, CEO, Müller Dairy UK
