The Barn celebrates five years of success, growth and ground-breaking efficiency

It started with just eight dedicated specialists, but over the past five years, Arla Foods’ The Barn has experienced exponential growth and the department now counts a team of 140 experts within creative development and media buying, located all over the world. The expansion underlines the agency's unique approach to bridging business, media, creativity and data.

The Barn's primary responsibility is to handle all digital media purchases for Arla Foods’ well-known brands. Over the past five years, more and more Arla brands have come under the care of the in-house agency, ensuring a coherent marketing strategy that resonates with consumers. The fact that Arla Foods has chosen to in-source the marketing effort has resulted in significant cost savings and operational optimizations across the company.

"As a cooperative owned by farmers, it is important for us to focus on costs. Every single penny we earn must benefit our owners. When we established our own agency, we saw an opportunity to make marketing efforts both cheaper and better at the same time, and we continue to build on that foundation today," says Thomas Heilskov, Senior Director and global Head of The Barn.

Creative, award-winning content on the plate

One of The Barn's core tasks was from the start to break down the industry's silos and bring media, creativity and data closer together. The innovative approach has not only helped Arla Foods optimize their marketing efforts, but has also led to the creation of creative digital award-winning content that captivates audiences worldwide.

The Barn’s main facilities are based at Arla Foods’ head office in Aarhus, Denmark, but The Barn has sub-departments in Leeds, Stockholm, Dubai, Düsseldorf and Toronto, among others. The global presence is essential for tailoring Arla Foods’ marketing strategies to a wide range of different markets and brands, resulting in significant optimization of resource allocation and delivery of results.

In addition to the remarkable growth and innovation in the industry, The Barn received a prestigious recognition last year when they secured Kantar's award for creative effectiveness in the Nordics.

The success and efficiency The Barn has brought has been decisive in Arla Foods’ decision to continue to expand its internal marketing activities in the coming years, with The Barn undoubtedly playing a crucial role in shaping the future of the dairy company's brand identity and global presence.

"It has been an incredible journey over the past five years. We are incredibly proud of the results we have brought to Arla Foods, and not least the team of unique, creative media specialists we have established," says Thomas Heilskov and continues:

“I look forward to continuing to push the boundaries of marketing and pioneer the creation of creative content. The ambitions are the same, and we cherish the constant learning process between media activation and creative content development, which means that we are constantly improving our understanding of what really works."