A new £7.5m three-year campaign to promote milk consumption in England, Scotland and Wales will be launched in the new year.

The campaign, which will run under the slogan Make Mine Milk, will be the first to promote both fresh and long-life liquid milk. It is being funded through the Milk Marketing Forum, whose members include Arla, Dairy Crest, First Milk, Milk Link and Robert Wiseman, with further support from Dairy UK and £2.6m of EU funding.

The first generic milk marketing campaign since 2002 will be primarily aimed at children and young adults aged between 15 and 24.

"At its heart is the idea to get consumers to emotionally connect with milk," said Milk Link marketing director Hamish Renton. Its focus would be on the health aspects of milk and marketing it as an alternative to water and carbonated drinks, he added.

Poster advertising, online media and PR will all be used in the campaign, which has enlisted a number of celebrities, among them top model Elle Macpherson.

Milk Link, a leading manufacturer of long-life milk, had pushed hard to ensure long-life was included in the campaign, Renton said.

"We've been really keen to say, 'Look guys, in terms of what you're trying to do, there is no difference between fresh and long-life milk'," he explained.

The campaign will benefit stakeholders throughout the milk industry, said director general of Dairy UK, Jim Begg. He added that further details would be unveiled at the organisation's annual conference on 15 September.

"This activity comes at an important time for the industry and represents a welcome revival of the promotion of liquid milk in Great Britain," Begg said.

The news follows this month's launch of a separate £1m campaign to promote organic milk, spearheaded by the Organic Milk Suppliers Co-operative. It will highlight to shoppers that they can switch from conventional milk to organic for as little as £1 a week extra.

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