Land O’Lakes’ Heather Malenshek on reshaping rural America’s story

Land O’Lakes may be best known for dairy, but its latest effort has little to do with selling butter. In this episode of The Big Impression, CMO Heather Malenshek joins hosts Damian Fowler and Ilyse Liffreing to talk about a campaign that’s aiming for something bigger: changing how rural America shows up in culture.

Called the Modern Rural Collective, the initiative skips traditional ads entirely. Instead, it partners with filmmakers, writers and platforms like Imagine Entertainment and Getty Images to tell more accurate, nuanced stories about rural life.

The idea came from a clear disconnect. Rural communities make up most U.S. counties and power much of the country’s food system, yet are often reduced to clichés or overlooked entirely.

“We really understand them on a pretty intimate level … and over time, it became clear that there’s a real disconnect between that lived reality in rural America and how it’s actually showing up in culture,” Malenshek says.

What’s missing, she argues, is the full picture: communities that are entrepreneurial, innovative and evolving. Instead of correcting that with a single campaign, Land O’Lakes is building tools — imagery, research, storytelling frameworks — that others can use to shift the narrative at scale.

That also changes how success is measured. It’s less about impressions and more about adoption: Are brands using the assets? Are creators telling better stories? Is representation starting to feel more real?

It’s a long-term play, and one that leans heavily on collaboration rather than ownership. Because culture doesn’t change through a single voice.

The takeaway is simple, if not easy: Purpose-driven marketing still works — but only if it’s real, rooted and willing to go the distance.