Cottage cheese had an image problem. Many of today’s trendy young Gen Z-ers didn’t think the high protein, low fat snack was for them. Instead, they believed it to be for their parents or grandparents—the ignominy of it all.
So how do you get cottage cheese on the radar of young people? Bulla Dairy Foods decided the best way was to get a certain Margaret involved.
“There’s two main insights we leveraged in Margaret: (1) cottage cheese was beginning to grow in interest on TikTok, and (2) younger audiences love ‘granfluencers’ – grandma and pa social media creators. Combining these, we pursued the idea of a lovable and down-to-earth personality, Margaret, whose mission is to share her love for cottage cheese to young Australians on TikTok,” Tommy Kuo, Dig’s social media director told B&T.
@bullafamilydairy Hi Australia! I can’t wait to share with you the goodness of Bulla Cottage Cheese! ❤️ Margaret, Bulla Chief Cottage Cheese Officer #CottageCheese ♬ original sound – Bulla Family Dairy
“Understanding that the medium is the message, we wanted our audience to feel like Margaret is a TikTok creator with an authentic message – rather than a highly commercialised brand ambassador who has their face plastered across every media channel possible. The social-native approach to this campaign also shapes the way Margaret talks about cottage cheese – she adds humour and flair to an existing conversation rather than overtly selling it to those who haven’t tried it,” added Kuo.
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It’s an approach that worked. Cottage cheese, as odd as it sounds, has had a year to remember.
“Bulla Cottage Cheese has literally been flying off the shelves due to the steep increase in demand, with mainstream media broadcasting attribution through Margaret’s content on TikTok as Bulla’s Chief Cottage Cheese Officer,” said Kuo.
@bullafamilydairy #WhatIEatInADay Cottage Cheese edition! Which one was your favourite? Margaret, Bulla Chief Cottage Cheese Officer #CottageCheese ♬ original sound – Bulla Family Dairy
“Effectively, Bulla became the hero in the category. In a post-campaign study, we measured a 28 per cent sales increase compared to the previous year, which is 230 per cent above TikTok benchmarks.”
Those are the sort of results that can net you B&T Award. At last year’s ceremony, the Dig team walked away with the Best Digital Campaign trophy with our elite panel of client-side marketer judges—unsurprisingly—rejoicing over the results.
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“Margaret is a wonderful demonstration of a social-native strategy. Social Media can be a tricky channel to master; it’s a tightrope walk balancing authenticity and fast-paced communication without appearing cringeworthy. One wrong step and you’ve been scrolled out of someone’s attention. Margaret’s TikTok content was able to help sell out supermarket shelves throughout the country, helped Bulla own the mainstream cottage cheese narrative and gain thousands of young fans along the way,” added Kuo.
@bullafamilydairy Cottage Cheese is my go to post workout snack 👟❤️Margaret, Bulla Chief Cottage Cheese Officer #CottageCheese ♬ original sound – Bulla Family Dairy
But this hasn’t been a flash in the pan. Bulla is still seeing Margaret appearing in media, held aloft as an “unlikely social media superstar”.
“Her down-to-earth and adorable nature has been commended on Gruen, ABC News, 7 News, The Cheap Seats and more,” added Kuo.
