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STATE BEEF COUNCILS
Building beef demand by inspiring, unifying and supporting an effective state/national checkoff partnership.
Tailgating Event Creates Federation Leaders Reiterate Grassroots Principles to USDA Beef Buzz in Indiana
Expressing their support for a strong state/national partnership to help effectively increase consumer demand for beef, Federation leaders met with USDA officials April 13 while in Washington, D.C., for the NCBA Executive Committee meeting. The visit was part of a key Federation responsibility: to assure greater understanding of the role of both state beef councils and the Federation in beef checkoff programs throughout the country. The executive committee members met with USDA Agricultural Marketing Service Administrator Elanor Starmer and her staff. They noted in the meeting that the Federation represented a grassroots effort, with nearly 700 producers serving on individual state beef councils around the country. During the meeting the industry leaders stressed the
importance of the industry Long Range Plan in guiding checkoff programming at both the state and national levels. The meeting also gave Federation leaders a chance to recognize the beneficial partnership the Federation has with the Cattlemen’s Beef Board in checkoff committees and the Beef Promotion Operating Committee. “A foundation of the Federation is the ‘one vision – one plan – one voice’ principle,” said Federation Chairman Steve Hanson, a Nebraska beef producer. “The Qualified State Beef Councils, and their national representative the Federation of State Beef Councils, help assure greater producer control of beef checkoff funds, and this was a great chance to again communicate that message.”
A tailgating event in Fort Wayne, Ind., last fall gave the Indiana Beef Council a chance to create a beef-boosting atmosphere for footballloving consumers. The partnership with a local radio station allowed the IBC to combine radio advertising with a presence on the station’s website and sampling of beef chili at the 4-hour tailgating event at a Fort Wayne grocery store to help promote beef. The event was partially funded with a grant from the Federation Initiative Fund. More than 1,100 samples of chili and hundreds of beef recipe brochures and cut charts were distributed during the event, which was preceded by two weeks of 60-second beef radio commercials on WOWO, the local radio
station. During the event, a jumbo screen television broadcast a college football game, with beef-promoting slides shown during commercial breaks. Web and social media promotion was also conducted. A booth at the event allowed the IBC to visit with tailgaters about beef and beef recipes during the game. “It was a tremendous amount of positive exposure for beef and the Indiana beef industry,” according to Joe Moore, IBC executive director. “The positive feedback we got from the tailgating event was great. And through the radio and social media outreach, we were able to reach thousands of consumers with a positive message about beef’s role in a healthy balanced diet.”
Attending the meeting with USDA officials were: (top row, L-R) Todd Johnson (NCBA vice president of Federation Services); Mark Harms (Revenue Seat, Kansas); and Bill Sexton (VP Region I, Ohio); (middle row, L-R) Dan Hinman (VP Region V, Idaho); Weldon Wynn (VP Region IV, Arkansas); and Linda Brake (VP Region VI, Arizona); (front row, L-R) Donna Jo Curtis (VP Region II, Alabama); Steve Hanson (Federation Chair, Nebraska); Katie Brenny (VP Region III, Minnesota); and Jerry Effertz, Federation vice chairman, North Dakota. Not pictured: Patty Brumbach (federation Advisory Council, Chair, Washington.
Digital Asset Manager One of the tools the Federation provides its state beef council partners is access to checkoff-funded images that can be used in promotional and educational efforts. That tool is becoming more convenient and valuable, as a new Digital Access Manager, called The Wrangler, is launched. The Wrangler allows state beef council staffs to access images via the internet even when Federation Services staff members are not available. Using a user name and password, state staff can obtain images and other visual material contained in a secure file for use whenever and wherever they need them. For instance, if a state council is conducting a retail promotion on a Saturday and finds a need for a current checkoff logo or image of a beef cut, they can access The
Wrangler to obtain the image immediately for use in their promotion. The Wrangler will contain all of the most current images available through the national Beef Checkoff Program. One advantage of The Wrangler is that state councils will be assured of getting only the most current checkoff images. This will minimize usage of out-of-date materials nationwide. Other checkoff-funded websites, such as www.beefresearch.org, provide access to other text-oriented materials, such as white papers and research reports. Future Wrangler plans call for development of a feature that will allow states to customize some of the materials, making them ready for printing either at the state level or through Federation print resources.
Event participants watched college football on a jumbo screen, enjoying a traditional tailgating experience.
New York Beef Council Engaging Consumers through Social Media The New York Beef Council has stepped up its capabilities in social media and digital marketing over the past two years, with assistance from the Federation Initiative Fund. The council has increased its presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest, and created and executed more focused and methodical approaches to digital media, working with partners to enhance their reach. Utilizing a combination of existing projects, such as May Beef Month, Beef Day at the New York State Fair, seasonal campaigns, American Heart Association events and others, NYBC connected with consumers through a series of daily posts and other digital efforts in 2014 and 2015. The organization partnered with retailer Tops Markets and media where appropriate, utilizing digital ad buys to boost interest and results from these efforts to assess the best approaches for these kinds of campaigns in the future. NYBC also worked with Syracuse University professors and students in a 3-part
public relations effort starting in the fall of 2014, which included consumer research about the barriers and opportunities for beef in the social media environment. Results of the research indicated NYBC was headed in the right direction with its content, and provided additional guidance from student teams for three possible approaches for NYBC social media efforts. “Thanks to our efforts over the past two years, we’re not only engaging consumers more frequently and effectively about beef, we’re becoming much better educated about how to better spend our checkoff dollars and time in this critical area,” according to Jean O’Toole, NYBC director of integrated marketing communications. “The media landscape in New York is unique and difficult to navigate, but thanks to our partnership with Syracuse University and the extensive work we did with Federation Initiative Fund dollars, we’re improving our ability to reach social media-focused millennials in the state, and creating social media campaigns that are both executable and exciting.”