Milk has enjoyed a few thousand years at the top.

So even though Oatly has been selling oat-based dairy alternatives since the early 90’s, you can see why it still feels fairly new.

We needed to make people aware of the brand and their Oat Drink Semi product and encourage the audience to try it out instead of milk.

Not just as a drink but as a milk replacement in (almost) all instances.

Oatly isn’t afraid of being honest.

In a world of carefully curated corporate reputations Oatly cuts through by being transparent and thus more trustworthy.

For example, their Oat Drink Semi is the perfect milk alternative most times… but it probably doesn’t work in all instances.

And they’re not afraid of admitting that, which became the big idea: Oatly Works In (Almost) Everything.

To deliver this message online, they needed an authentic channel: content creators on social media. They’re more trusted by our audience to deliver honest reviews than any brand’s message. Why? Because they’re closer to the audience than brands will ever be.

63% of US and 58% of UK GenZ audiences trust the product recommendations of content creators (Reaching the Unreachables, 2022)

62% of US and 57% of UK GenZ audiences trust product recommendations of people who follow the same content creators (Reaching the Unreachables, 2022)

We sourced 46 creators to reach our broad audience range across seven markets (Austria, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland & United Kingdom).

The target audience were of all generations over 18, had a variety of interests and, of course, weren’t only plant-based consumers.

Our diverse creator selection reflected the audience’s unique and diverse passions and POVs, such as magicians, comedians, anime artists and traditional foodie creators.

They were briefed to produce fun, authentic and entertaining recipe-themed content on Instagram and TikTok, where our audience goes for #foodinspo.

We wanted them to create in their own style, have fun with it and really put Oatly to the test in all sorts of recipes.

We collaborated with some of the biggest names in the social (and IRL) food scene to really put Oatly on the map including:

@thomas_straker, the butter guy on TikTok and respected chef who’s the darling of West London fine dining.

@poppy_cooks Michelin-trained chef, Potato Queen and MOB kitchen alumni who’s Oatly video went viral!

@whatwillycook the hilarious Gen Z cook creating stress-free dishes who went all out for Oatly with a catchy musical number.

From breakfast to chai, tingly ASMR to sumptuous cinematography, milk rolls to national dishes it was all delicious.

Well, not all. One creator presented an instance when our oat-based alternative wasn’t the right ingredient.

The audience appreciated creators’ honesty and Oatly being open to the truth - a refreshing treat for social media.

In all cases, the brand and products were prominently displayed and interacted with on camera and mentioned in captions for extra brand recall.

Direct brand messages work in almost every medium but when it comes to socials, creators proved they’re the best alternative…

13.1M total organic Views.

2.8 years (1,047 days) of Playtime. Or the time it takes to hand milk 300,000 cows.

11.48M Reach

788K total Engagements

97.7k Link clicks

We went VIRAL with 7.8M organic Views of @poppycook’s video!

Our organic content was naturally engaging with a far reach:

+51% Higher than our TikTok benchmark for Avg. View Engagement Rate (VER) in the food & beverage category (8.47% vs 5.6%).

Higher than our overall TikTok Avg. VER benchmark (8.47% vs 8%).

+88% Higher than our Instagram benchmark for Avg. Follower Reach Rate (FRR) (55% vs. 29.3%).

Sample of audience comments:

“first ad thats made me actually want to buy something”

“Right, I’m off to my local corner shop to get myself some oatly”

“this is the most creativ ad ever”