When the dairy community of upstate New York was near collapse in 2007, Chobani yogurt launched as a start-up of 5 people. Today it is one of America’s largest yogurt brands, and has helped revive the local industry through the hard work and heart of the local dairy community. But people don’t know this story of the brands beginnings. Facing fierce new competition in the category, our brief was to take Chobani’s small town story of heart, and build it into a national story in America. The solution was to create an event that would strike an emotional chord in the spirit of the Olympics, and act as a PR vehicle to tell Chobani’s story of community revival. To do this, we invited the local dairy community to build a giant outdoor cinema screen on a local field to watch the Olympic Opening Ceremony together. We documented the event through an integrated campaign of national TV, online hub, digital media and documentary film. The event struck a chord with people in the spirit of the Olympics, and was picked up in major news channels, PR and social media across the country, telling Chobani’s brand story in the process.

Facing fierce new competition in the Greek yogurt category, Chobani needed to assert a leadership position in America, by letting people know its true story of community revival. Our goal was to use PR to take this small town story of heart, and make it a national story in America.

Chobani’s story reached a scale of PR and national conversation never seen in the yogurt category:

- 944 million media impressions

- Earned media in national news and editorial including CNN, Fox News, CBS News, NBC, Forbes, NY Times and Bloomberg.

- #1 most searched brand on Google during the 2012 Olympics

- #1 most effective Olympics campaign in USA (Ace Metrix)

- 338% increase in online brand mentions

- 18% rise in sales

The solution was to create an event that would strike an emotional chord in the spirit of the Olympics, and begin the PR story. We invited the local dairy community to build a giant outdoor cinema screen on a local field to watch the Olympic Opening Ceremony together. The event struck a chord with people in the spirit of the Games, and was picked up in major news channels and social media across the country. This acted as a vehicle to tell Chobani’s true story of community revival and heart, as an organic story led by PR.

When the dairy community of upstate New York was near collapse in 2007, Chobani yogurt launched as a start-up of 5 people. Today it is one of America’s largest yogurt brands, and has helped revive the local industry through the hard work and heart of the local dairy community. But people don’t know this story.

The story of Chobani is a story of heart – the farming community of upstate New York have put their hearts into building the brand and it has revived the local dairy industry. With the 2012 Olympic Games approaching, it was the perfect opportunity to tell their story, with the goal of using PR to inject it into the spirit and popular culture of the Olympic Games.