By Ali Boochever, Grants Coordinator at NE-DBIC
One of the NE-DBIC’s more popular grants that is now in its third year, the Dairy Marketing & Branding Services Grant provides crucial funding for established value-added dairy processors and producer associations to access professional marketing and branding services.
In 2022, the grant’s second round saw the distribution of funding to ten well-deserving recipients, each with exciting projects. Let’s take a look at two of them:
Bohanan Farm of New Hampshire
Bohanan Farm is a fifth generation, family-owned dairy farm in New Hampshire and home to Contoocook Creamery.
The creamery, which was launched in 2009 in response to the fall of wholesale milk prices, is known for its cheese, butter, and bottled milk made exclusively from Bohanan Farm cows.
“As a fifth-generation dairy farm, funding for marketing is hard to come by,” says owner Jamie Robertsons. “Programs and grants from NE-DBIC like the Dairy Marketing & Branding Services Grant gives our farm a chance to stand out and market our products directly to consumers.”
Their grant focus is on revamping their digital presence, including content development, asset gathering, and a complete website redesign and relaunch, all with the aim of increasing local market exposure. Bohanan Farm has been working with a trio of dedicated contractors to manage this project, handle photo and video shoots, curate material that beautifully represents the farm’s legacy, and create an engaging website that ensures optimal user experience and easy access to essential information about the farm.
“The funding has allowed our family to partner with premier videographers/photographers Flicker House Films and NH top marketing agency Drive Brand Studio. It’s giving us the opportunity to tell our rich history, grow the business, and support future generations of our family on our historic NH farm,” said Jamie.
The revamped website will offer visitors a glimpse into the 100-year history of Bohanan Farm with photos and videos that take viewers through the farm’s processes and introduce them to the farmers behind it all. Additionally, the website will incorporate a retail locator feature, allowing consumers to easily find and purchase products from Contoocook Creamery at Bohanan Farm.
Grant project manager, Donald Grandmaison, remarked:
“This Grant will have a lasting impact on current and future generations, ensuring that this farm, with a rich history of serving the community and preserving farmland forever, can tell its story directly to consumers”
Oake Knoll Farms of Massachusetts
Oake Knoll Farms is a woman-owned farm producing A2 milk, cheese, and yogurt in Massachusetts.
With funding from the Dairy Marketing & Branding Grant, they’re working with a marketing consultant to create a digital marketing campaign to introduce three new artisan cheeses to consumers.
The consultant, Luminous Creative Agency, started by exploring Oake Knoll’s essence, visiting the farm’s store and farmers market, gathering benchmark data from their existing website, e-commerce platform, and social media channels. Market research led to valuable insights into their target audience, brand perception, and existing product line, while stakeholder surveys captured perceptions and feedback about the Oake Knoll Farms brand. This data collection provides valuable direction for their marketing campaign and sheds light on Oake Knoll Farms position within the community.
The collaboration with Luminous Creative Agency led to a framework for brand consistency and sets the foundation for the look and feel of all of Oake Knoll’s marketing and packaging materials that is cohesive and resonates with their audience. One outcome of the research was the creation of a compelling brand tagline, encapsulating Oake Knoll Farms’ unique identity and spirit:
“Oake Knoll Farms: Farming, Family & Community”
This tagline will play a central role in supporting brand copy, extending its influence to packaging, in-store and farmers market signage, and engaging social media graphics. Moreover, the design of a plastic lid film for the new cheese products has been completed, setting the tone for the overall style of all cheese and yogurt packaging. With the packaging design finalized, Oake Knoll Farms’ new cheese recipes are all set for production, and the printed packaging will soon be made available to consumers.
Bohanan Farm and Oake Knoll Farms’ Marketing & Branding grant projects are due to wrap up in November. Keep a look out for the launch of their new marketing this fall and winter!
Learn more about the Dairy Marketing & Branding Grant on our grants page.
