2012 aiga minnesota Design Show

Tillamook is an Oregon-based, family-owned co-op with a dedication to using the freshest natural ingredients available. The Tillamook Dairy Co-op had an interesting and playful story to share with consumers, but it was fragmented among different marketing partners. Tillamook needed to organize and consolidate that story and present it to each of its marketing partners by creating a standard visual aesthetic and tone.

Delivery of Work

Because Tillamook is a family-owned co-op with a dedication to using the freshest natural ingredients available, they’re a favorite of moms nationwide. But to the kids who munch their delicious goodies, Tillamook was a bright and playful friend.

Every marketing piece needed to marry these two thoughts, so we created a brand book called The Tillabook. This wasn’t a brand book that called for exact measurements on logo placement on marketing materials. But it was one that helped tell the Tillamook story in a playful way. Because Tillamook is not a brand, but rather a happy feeling.

The book started where every Tillamook product does, in a grassy valley in Oregon, where hard work makes dairy products. The book then explains words that should be used to describe Tillamook in a die-cut, interactive spread. Next, we move on to highlighting some of the quirky styling of Tillamook, like why they call cheese bricks “loaves” or have a boat in their front yard, or why they travel the country in tiny orange Volkswagen buses. The book also highlighted a number of current marketing initiatives, the audience we’re reaching with them, and how we like to talk to them—happy, of course. The book finished with a playful flow-chart for all marketing partners to gauge whether what they’re making is Tillamook-happy.

The Results

Every partner vendor on the Tillamook roster, from event promotions to retailers, received the book. Many more were then requested for internal purposes. Pages were soon ripped out and hung in cubicles at the Tillamook headquarters and requests for similar materials were made. In the end, all marketing materials going forward adopted the visual aesthetic and tone presented in the Tillabook. It was a resounding success.