Oatly's Partnership With MiLB Is How Strategic Marketing Should Work

Sometimes the strategy behind a brand marketing campaign is so clearly intentional that you can see it becoming a case study before it even happens. That was my first reaction after reading about Oatly's new partnership with Minor League Baseball across the US.

Through a series of smart branding and fun concepts, they are bringing more celebration to the game (with a "sixth-inning stretch" and free sweet treats after every hit to the "oatfield"), engaging with a sports league that doesn't take itself too seriously, encouraging product trial among an audience group that is unlikely to have tried their products before and setting themselves up for more attention on a bigger scale through higher visibility MLB stadiums in the future.

I've written about smart marketing ideas from Oatly before ... because they have earned the attention. It's nice to see that some brand marketers aren't just lazily investing funds in media buys and underfunding creativity to push predictable and boring advertising out to the masses. Thoughtful marketing will always stand out.