Watch: farmers star in new Kerrygold ads

Ornua is launching a new global digital marketing campaign to promote the Kerrygold brand based on videos filmed on three Irish farms.

2018 Quality Milk Awards winner Darran McKenna from Co Monaghan; Marguerite and Michael Crowley from west Cork, also a Quality Milk Awards finalist farm; and Brian Cleary from Co Waterford feature along with their families and herds in the series of adverts.

The videos show lights being switched on early in the darkness as dairy farmers go about their work "364.5 days a year", as Brian Cleary puts it.

The campaign emphasises the family tradition on Irish farms, with three generations appearing – including a photograph of Michael Crowley's late father in the parlour.

Michael said that his children were very much part of the farm. "When I ask who wants to be the farmer in the future, I have three hands going up," he said.

The campaign will run in Ireland and in Kerrygold's largest export destinations in Germany, the US and the UK, but also in developing markets for the brand such as Poland, Greece and France, Ornua Foods managing director Róisín Hennerty told the Irish Farmers Journal. The target audience is 36m people.

The videos will appear on social media channels such as YouTube, Instagram and Facebook, but not on TV.

"We're meeting the consumers where they live and play: they are on social media when they are looking for a recipe or on their lunch break," said Hennerty.

Running the campaign on social media will also be more economical – though its budget is confidential.