Arla is Making Breakfast For Champions

For a business built on more than a century of farming heritage, launching a new brand platform is not a decision taken lightly. Yet that's precisely what dairy cooperative Arla has done with Feed Life, a long-term masterbrand proposition designed to unite its purpose, products, and ambitions under a single, enduring idea.

To bring the platform to life, Arla and Droga5 London launched Breakfast Yourself To Victory, part of the broader Feed Life proposition, both being unveiled in September. The first campaign taps into the small, everyday victories people set for themselves, from beating someone to the train platform to securing the best seat in the office.

Using humour and relatable behavioural insights, the work reminds consumers of the value of starting the day with a proper breakfast. More broadly, it positions Arla as a company that helps people make positive dietary choices while highlighting the wider role food plays in health, wellbeing, culture, and everyday life.

But behind the creative work sits a broader strategic question: how does a major consumer brand build a platform capable of lasting not just for a campaign cycle, but for the next decade? And what role can creativity play in helping a traditional food brand remain relevant in a world increasingly shaped by conversations around health, nutrition, sustainability and changing consumer habits?

Danny Beresford, vice president of marketing at Arla UK, and Tara Ford, chief creative officer at Droga5 London, discuss the evolution of the work, the insight behind Breakfast Yourself To Victory, and why both client and agency believe they have created a platform with the potential to grow far beyond this inaugural campaign.

Why did you feel there was a need for a new masterbrand and strategic direction to be introduced for Arla?

Danny: We’ve built the Arla brand strongly, both globally and in the UK. Retail sales value is now around half a billion pounds, and we’ve driven significant awareness and brand equity. But when we looked ahead and asked what we want this brand to stand for, we realised we needed a long‑term creative platform — something we could commit to not for one or two years, but five, ten or more.

We wanted a platform that engages consumers and also works for our wider stakeholders. As a farmer‑owned cooperative, it has to resonate with our customers and partners too. That’s where the idea of Feed Life came from. At its heart, Feed Life is about enabling good food choices that make life better.

When you’re committing to something that could run for five, ten years or more, how do you even begin to plan for it? How do you build a brief that genuinely sets you up for that level of commitment?

Danny: Our starting point was two things. First, we looked at where consumer trends are heading. What will people want from food over the next five to ten years? We were clear that food’s role will increasingly centre on being natural, healthy and produced in a way that responds to people's expectations around climate and nature."

At the same time, we asked ourselves what role Arla should play in that future food system. As a dairy cooperative, our farmers produce milk — a highly nutritious product — and from that we innovate to create even more nutritious foods. Those fundamentals shaped our thinking about where the brand should go.

From there, Feed Life emerged. We thought about the role food plays: it feeds people, supports health and nutrition, gives energy and positivity, and creates cultural and family connections. Bringing those ideas together, Feed Life captured both our role as a company and the role food plays in people’s everyday lives.

Tara: It’s been really interesting. I’m just over a year in now, and there’s nothing better than getting to know a client and realising they genuinely do what they say — and often far more. Arla does so much they don’t talk about: supporting communities, farmers, education. Seeing that authenticity firsthand is a real joy, and it shows how many more stories there are to tell.

Feed Life works so well because it’s open enough to stretch into lots of different areas. Yes, it’s about food, but it can also be about educating people on the future of eating and farming, and all the ways Arla contributes beyond the products themselves. There are so many places the platform can go.

Where did the campaign idea come from?

Danny: I think it came from us asking: if we want to Feed Life as an organisation, where can we genuinely make a difference — and where can we help consumers make a difference in their own lives? We explored a range of consumer tensions, like wanting to eat naturally or healthily but not actually doing it.

Through that work, breakfast emerged as a critical foundation meal. We’ve all heard it’s the most important meal of the day, but our insight showed it was becoming the forgotten one. People are rushing in the mornings; up early, walking the dog, sorting the kids, getting to work, and breakfast was either being skipped or reduced to grabbing something wrapped in plastic from a service station. That’s not exactly feeding life.

So we started with a cultural tension and a real problem we felt we could shine a light on. Then the challenge became: how do we do that in a way that’s creative and engaging, rather than simply telling people what they already know?

That thinking shaped the brief we took to Droga5. We want to do something meaningful around breakfast. Together we built a strong platform, and that’s when we handed it over to Tara and her team to bring it to life.

Tara: Yeah, and when you look at the products, they’re perfect for breakfast. So many different types of breakfasts are covered across the range, which made it feel like a natural place for us to focus. People skipping breakfast — or grabbing something pretty questionable on the go — is well known, even if we don’t talk about “bad eating” directly. Putting ourselves front and centre felt right.

Everyone knows you should eat breakfast, and most people know their day is better when they do. The challenge was: how do you say that in a fresh way? We needed something that wasn’t judgmental or too serious, but still universally relatable.

That’s where the idea of those little everyday competitions came in. As soon as we talked about it, everyone recognised it — we all have our own version of those tiny, human races we run with ourselves. It felt like a fun, truthful behaviour no one had really tapped into, and a great way to bring the breakfast message to life.

We’re essentially telling people to have a good breakfast so they can have a better day. That’s the heart of it. The little competition moments aren’t the point in themselves — they’re just a fun, relatable way to bring the idea to life. It’s a way of encouraging better habits without being heavy‑handed, and making the message feel human rather than instructional.

How do you hope this will position Arla and its brands in terms of the marketplace?

Danny: Yeah, clearly the question for us was: what do we want the Arla brand to stand for? And as Tara said, it’s not just about what we want to do — it’s who we are. We produce natural, healthy foods, and we’re constantly innovating to do that even better. We want people to see Arla as a brand that can help them make good food choices. That comes through in the products we make, the inspiration we offer through our advertising and recipe development, and all the work we do beyond that.

But that’s the functional side — what we want people to think. We also wanted people to feel really good about Arla. How do we create an emotional connection? How do we make Arla a brand people feel warmth towards? That’s why we brought humour and humanity into the advertising, instead of taking a more serious route. We know that’s how you actually engage people.

This campaign is just the first step in our Breakfast Yourself To Victory platform, and it’ll be exciting to see how we build it year after year. It’s also our first step in the wider Feed Life proposition. And who knows — in a few years, breakfast might not be the focus. We may find another area where we can make a meaningful difference.

Which audience is this aimed at?

Danny: We do have a target audience in mind through our segmentation, but we see this as a broad message. Everyone wants to feel their best and make food choices that work for their lifestyle.". So it’s a wide proposition.

When we looked at the insight around these little competitions — and the breakfast behaviours linked to them — it was universally appealing. Everyone had their own version of these funny, tiny races they run with themselves or with people who don’t even know they’re “competing”. The specifics vary from person to person, but the behaviour is the same. It’s a universal platform built on a universal insight.

Tara: I think the point is that there isn’t anyone who couldn’t benefit from a good breakfast. Every human fits that description. And if we tried to narrow it to “people who are busy in the morning”, well — who isn’t? Students, parents, commuters, teenagers… everyone starts the day in some kind of rush. So it really is for everyone.

How did you select or prioritise the ideas for little competitions that you collectively thought up?

Tara: I’d start by saying you need to articulate the idea really clearly — something people can instantly understand, both in terms of the idea itself and the brand’s role in it. Once you’ve done that, you can build from there. Film was the obvious place to begin because it lets you set the tone, personality and warmth of the brand straight away. It’s a medium where you can express the idea in a way that feels human and distinctive. So starting there made sense.

From there, we looked at the places where you naturally catch people in the morning — on their way to work, on the school run, wherever their day begins. Those moments felt right for extending the idea and meeting consumers where the behaviour actually happens.

Danny: Exactly, film was essential for getting the idea across, especially the humour and those little competitions. But with the outdoor work, the question became: how do we make the idea situationally relevant?

That’s why we focused on busy morning environments like train stations. The cross‑track placements almost write themselves — beating the person up the escalator, being first on the train, all those everyday moments. Breakfast time is hectic, and those insights land perfectly in that context. For me, that’s where some of the best lines in the campaign come from.

Were there any little competitions while developing this? Was there any anyone challenging someone else at all?

Danny: It did feel a bit like a confessional — everyone admitting the funny little things they do in the morning — and that’s where some of the best insights came from. That’s the beauty of the campaign. In these first executions we’ve only highlighted a handful of those behaviours, but there are so many more to explore. That's where we think it's such a compelling kind of long term platform that these little competitions and insights just happen all the time and are everywhere.

It’s a terrific platform for creators to run with. Are you planning their involvement?

Tara: Creator content is definitely part of the thinking. Just like everyone has their own version of these little competitions, creators will have theirs too — shaped by who they are and what they’re about.

So we’ll keep looking for behaviours that are fun, a bit unexpected, and naturally fit the creator’s personality. That authenticity is crucial. The beauty of this campaign is that everyone has their own take on these moments, and they’re often surprisingly different. That’s what makes it so rich and expandable.

Danny: And when we talked about the idea, we were thinking beyond just creating lots of executions — we were asking how this platform could genuinely live in culture. The test was simple: can you imagine anyone picking this up? Whether it’s a creator, or someone chatting to a mate down the pub about their own little competitions. And the answer was yes.

That human element is what makes the campaign so strong. These behaviours are universal, instantly recognisable, and easy for anyone to share or build on. It’s a creative platform that naturally invites participation.

Can you give me a bit more about the evolution of the campaign?

Danny: Yeah, we’re only a few weeks into it, but we’ve already got a really strong plan for the rest of this year and into next — certainly the first half. How it evolves will depend on what results we see and how consumers respond. Obviously, we hope people connect with the idea and keep engaging with it.

For now, we’ve mapped out the next few months, and then we’ll build from the conversations people are having, the feedback we get, and the new insights that emerge. That will help us take the idea into new spaces.

When we were developing the campaign with Tara and her team, the bigger challenge wasn’t finding ideas — it was choosing which ones to start with. The teams kept generating brilliant possibilities, and we had to focus on what made sense as the first step. There’s a lot we left on the table that we can pick up in the next phase.

Which moments do you have when you feel slightly competitive?

Danny: I wouldn’t say I have just one — I’ve got loads. I’m a pretty competitive person. In the mornings, I like being the first one in the kitchen, so I do race downstairs to get five quiet minutes to myself before my wife, the dog and everyone else appears. And in the office, we’ve got a free‑seating policy, but I still like getting in early to claim the best desk. Those are the ones I’m willing to share.

Tara: If I can hold the plank in Pilates longer than anyone else, that absolutely counts as one of mine.

What are the metrics that you're keeping an eye on right now in terms of success?

Danny: You see different things at different stages as the campaign rolls out. In the first week, it’s really about how it’s landing — what messages we’re seeing on social, whether it’s getting traction, and the kind of positive feedback coming through. That immediate reaction tells us whether it’s cutting through and sparking something.

Then we move into the more detailed brand‑equity measures: campaign awareness, shifts in perception, all the indicators that show how the idea is working over time. And ultimately, as with all our brands, we’ll run full econometric analysis — but that comes much further down the line.

So, the early phase is: is it landing? Are people talking about it? Are we triggering the right conversations? Then we look to the longer‑term measures around equity, awareness and, eventually, econometrics.

The company has just reported strong recent growth. Where can marketing legitimately take credit for the business’s performance?

Danny: Sure. We’ve been very clear that one of the biggest strategic aims for our UK business is growing our branded portfolio. Our branded business now sits at £1.3bn in retail sales value, across Arla, Lurpak, Anchor, Cravendale and our joint venture with Starbucks in chilled coffee.

For me, marketing isn’t just about advertising — it’s about building brands that genuinely resonate with consumers, innovating in ways that meet their needs, and having the foresight to position ourselves in the growth areas of the future. And that’s where I think we can take real credit.

Take Skyr yogurts, which are up 35 per cent this year. Our Arla Protein range is up 20 per cent. Chilled Starbucks coffees are up 15 per cent. We’ve launched a cottage cheese brand that taps directly into a huge TikTok‑driven trend. These are all examples of us spotting where consumer behaviour is heading and moving early.

So when you combine strong brand building, meaningful innovation and the ability to get ahead of emerging growth platforms, that’s been a major driver of our recent performance, and marketing has played a central role in that.

Why has creativity proven so important to Arla in its marketing over the years?

Danny: For us, brand building is fundamental. At our heart we’re a farmer‑owned cooperative, and our job is to pay our farmers the highest possible price for their milk. The best way to do that is by innovating and building brands that command a premium — that’s inherently what we do.

I’m also grateful that we’re a company that thinks long term. Yes, we have half‑year and in‑year targets, but our mindset is about building brands over years, not months. That’s why we focus on creating big creative ideas that can compound and grow over time.

And honestly, a huge part of our success comes from the culture we’ve built and the people we recruit. I’ve got a brilliant team, and we give them the freedom to try things. Some ideas fly, some don’t, and that’s fine, you have to embrace that. We’re competitive as a team and as an organisation; we want to do the best work and push ourselves.

And of course, it’s also about partnering with the best creative talent we can. Tara and her team have been instrumental in elevating the Arla brand. When you combine long‑term brand building, big ideas, a strong culture and great partners, that’s where the momentum comes from.

Tara: Great work works. if you do boring work, no one pays any attention.