CASTING A 14-YEAR-OLD TIKTOK STAR TO TALK COW CARE
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A CASE STUDY
Our client
The Dairy Alliance, a non-profit organization that represents family-run dairy farms in the Southeast. We had already done a ton of work for them in the past, but it was all mostly documentary-style content, mainly focused on building brand awareness about the industry as a whole. But then the Dairy Alliance’s communications department came to us with a new challenge.
Their problem
After performing extensive market research, they had found that one of the common misconceptions about the dairy industry, particularly among young people, has to do with the treatment of dairy cows. A lot of online misinformation contributed to this misperception and apparently turned some consumers off of dairy entirely.
Their ask
After explaining their issue, The Dairy Alliance came to Proper Medium with the following assignment:
Create quick & catchy video content for both paid placement AND social media that uses optimism & humor to increase awareness about dairy industry cow care.
Target Gen Z (11 to 26-year-olds) and their millennial parents.
Communicate the fact that American dairy farmers put cow care first and go to great lengths to treat their livestock like the queens they are.
Our Solution - Cast First
Every project is different. Which means every project requires its own bespoke approach on how to get it done. For this one, it was a little bit of a “chicken or the egg” situation. Do we spend a lot of time & effort during the pre-production phase, trying to nail down the creative concept? Or do we first figure out exactly who our talent is going to be and then tailor the creative to their unique personality?
The answer was obvious: cast first. Here’s why…
The clock was ticking and we needed someone Gen Z is already watching. A talent with a built-in audience. An online influencer perhaps. Not someone who we had to introduce to the world and hope for the best.
But it was easier said than done. The talent search was exhaustive. We talked to agents in NY. Agents in LA. Agents who only deal with viral video stars. Actors. Former actors. Former TV stars. Instagram chefs and radio personalities. Touring comedians and YouTube moms. Nutrition gurus & people who upload videos of themselves eating different potato chips every week.
At long last, we turned our attention to Nashville (by way of TikTok), and stumbled upon…
maddox batson!
The man, the myth, the legend.
In case you’re not familiar, Maddox Batson is a budding country-pop singer-songwriter who also happens to be 14-years-old. He started off by posting TikTok videos of his dad & him playing guitar. Since then, he’s amassed 2.6 million followers and a record deal with Warner.
Perhaps most importantly, he just felt like the right fit for this project. Maddox definitely ticked all of the demographic and social media influencer boxes. But it was his on-camera demeanor and genuine personality that won us over in the end.
Our Solution - Content Strategy
Once we got Maddox onboard, it was time we figured out what exactly we were going to film with him. Fortunately, we already knew we’d be shooting on location at a beautiful dairy farm in north Georgia called Glo-Crest. But what was our content strategy? Because of Maddox’s busy touring schedule, he was only available for a single day (weather permitting). So, we had to pack as much as we could within that time we had with him.
With the overarching theme of “cow care” in mind, we double-downed on a two-prong solution:
Script & shoot a more traditional :30-second “commercial” with Maddox, for use on The Dairy Alliance’s paid placement ad network and social media channels
Plan & shoot a much looser behind-the-scenes video that Maddox would then post to his own TikTok channel and that would direct back to the :30-second “commercial”
It was a win-win formula. We’d create commercial content that the client could run on CTV and YouTube pre-roll ads, while at the same time, produce an organic behind-the-scenes video for Maddox’s fans to enjoy and authentically engage with.