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STATE BEEF COUNCILS
Building beef demand by inspiring, unifying and supporting an effective state/national checkoff partnership.
Another State Runs with Team BEEF Digital Marketing Gets Rave Results, Reviews
The Indiana the Team BEEF jersey in the race. Beef Council is the “Our Indiana Team BEEF project latest SBC to put its was a great success,” according to Cory mark on the fitness Marlin, IBC education and industry community. With relations director. “We were able to help from a grant reach out to many consumers and from the Federation Initiative Fund, producers not only at the races, but the IBC created its Team BEEF this also among the races’ audiences and past year after an aggressive advertising fans. We received unbelievable feedback campaign for team participants. regarding our presence at these events. Final team members were a mix of 15 The fans and other participants – and producers and consumers from around even the announcers – at the races the state who participated in a variety were chanting ‘Beef.’ We’re very pleased of fitness events that helped convey to with the outcome and have already consumers, athletes and the general gotten a list of runners interested in public the value of including beef in participating with Indiana Team BEEF active lifestyles. for the year to come.” Participants were required to be involved in a beef informational webinar, and make Facebook and Twitter posts or write in blogs supporting beef at least once a week. The Indiana Team BEEF Facebook page was updated at least twice a week to support beef and give valuable information regarding its nutrition to all of its followers. The IBC also sent out a weekly newsletter with beef updates and articles, as well as a weekly recipe to all of the Indiana Team BEEF members, encouraging them to share the information with family and friends. Each member completed at least one of five races in the state that had Indiana Team BEEF member Jason Tower participates in the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon, one of the events in which team members were very been selected for the team, and wore recognizable and popular.
Fitness Enthusiast Lands on Beef Social Media Pages Chris Mohr, a father, fitness enthusiast and registered dietitian who holds a Ph.D., has teamed up with the Beef Checkoff Program Mohr to share inspiring recipes and beef tips he finds helpful on the industry’s social media properties. Mohr’s role in the digital marketing
campaign is to provide authentic, engaging beef content to consumers from someone they trust. Like others in the influencer group and their families, they are relatable and serve as reallife examples of how a variety of meal options, including beef, can have a positive and lasting effect on families. The Beef Checkoff ’s Facebook page has grown to almost 1 million “likes” and its Twitter fans now total nearly 18,000 followers. They will continue to reach a growing group of consumers through social media by leveraging influencers who show their love of beef and how it fits into a healthy diet.
A Facebook advertising campaign conducted by the Washington State Beef Commission in December reached more than 700,000 Seattle area millennial consumers with seasonally relevant tips and information they seek online. Ads promoting downloads of the “Roast Perfect” mobile app created by Certified Angus Beef (using beef checkoff-funded content such as roasting timetables, recipes, carving tips and more) reached more than 200,000 consumers, generating 3,500 clicks to the app download page. In addition, the WSBC campaign helped showcase beef as a way to stay on track with easy, nutritious meals. A short video showing consumers how to make Ground Beef Lettuce Wraps was viewed almost 40,000 times – in just two days.
Meanwhile, Heather Buckmaster, executive director of the Oklahoma Beef Council, has publicly said she is thrilled with the direction of the national Beef Checkoff Program’s digital marketing campaign. “What I love about digital marketing is it provides you that opportunity to learn,” Buckmaster told Ron Hays of the Radio Oklahoma Network. “Our website (www.beefitswhatsfordinner. com) this year has just been outstanding. Consumers are spending 20 percent more time on the website, which is significant.” Buckmaster told Hays the digital campaign better targets millennial consumers, many of whom live their lives online. Digital marketing has become one of the better ways to efficiently target and share information with consumers. The Oklahoma Beef Council is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2016.
Testing the Challenges, Value of Point-of-Purchase Information How effective and efficient is point-ofpurchase marketing when it comes to influencing beef purchases in retail stores? That was the key question when the checkofffunded national retail engagement team partnered with the Texas Beef Council on a test with a major regional retail chain. The test involved developing and placing point-of-purchase signs and information in stores highlighting beef ’s nutritional benefits, simple cut selection and preparation ease. Posters, rail strip tags, window clings, case dividers and tear pads were posted near fresh products throughout the meat case with “Pick, Prep, Cook – 3-Steps” and “Protein and Iron” callouts. The test had to comply with USDA ww
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Food Safety and Inspection Services labeling rules and requirements while applying established shopper behaviors and meeting the retailer’s needs for operational efficiencies. Shoppers in 12 stores in two metro markets were interviewed to evaluate their awareness of the signage, identify shopper use of information from the retailer, establish meal planning practices, and assess meat associate customer service. Sales data was evaluated compared to control stores after five weeks. Seventy percent of respondents said they had seen at least one element of the signage. Furthermore, test stores sold an average of 5.5 percent more beef than control stores compared to sales a year ago for the same time period. Information gathered will help guide the next phase of beef retail marketing opportunities in fiscal year 2016.