The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) announced the winners of the 2007 at its SmartMarketing Conference today in Las Vegas. The awards honor the dairy industry’s top marketing, public relations and advertising efforts. There were many great entries, and HP Hood even won a print advertising award based on a post we reported back in the fall!

The “Best of the Best” — the Best Overall Award for Marketing Excellence — went to Mayfield Dairy Farms for its “Flavor Decision ’06” campaign. The company picked up four other awards for the campaign including Best Website, Best Overall Promotion, Best Overall Mixed Media Campaign and Best Overall Public Relations Campaign. Mayfield also took the prize for Best Billboard/Transit Ad in the fluid milk category.

LALA Foods, a first-time competitor in the Achieving Excellence Awards, won six silver awards: Best Billboard/Transit Ad in the combination category, Best New Product in the cultured category, Best Package Design in the cultured category, Best Promotion in the combination category, Best Mixed Media Campaign in the combination category and Best Ethnic Marketing Campaign in the combination category.

Wells’ Dairy took the award for the Best Overall TV Ad along with the award for Best Overall Mixed Media Campaign for multiple products/product lines. Saputo Cheese won for Best Overall Package Design promotional packaging. The award for Best Overall Print Ad went to HP Hood for its ad featuring a photo of a dropped ice cream cone and the headline “Life’s Full of Little Crash Landings”.

This year’s Best New Product responds to consumers’ growing interest in the nutritional value of omega-3 fatty acids. Omega Farms positioned its cheddar and monterey jack cheeses as a convenient source of omega-3 from fish oil. Dairy Field magazine also named Omega Farms as an Editor’s Choice pick for 2006.

Shamrock Farms took home the award for Best Overall Ethnic Marketing Piece for a radio spot featuring “Roxie” the 12-year-old “spokescow”. The Best Overall School Marketing Piece was awarded to Tetra Pak for the “Lunchbox School Kit”.