02/03/05 Beef, It needs a change

02/03/05 Beef, It needs a change

It has been one of the ag industry's most successful marketing campaigns, not just of recent years, but of history. Whether your part of the chain is as a cattle rancher or a consumer of steak and hamburgers, you have probably heard the phrase "Beef: It's what's for dinner". However, the Cattlemen's Beef Board, which manages the Beef Checkoff and its marketing campaigns says there will be some changes in store for the "Beef: It's what's for dinner" promotion. OTLEY: Since the beginning of the check off program, we have seen beef advertising on television. That will not be the case in 2005. That's Rich Otley. He's the Director of Evaluation for the Cattlemen's Beef Board. And he admits the pending case before the U.S. Supreme Court & the one that will determine once and for all the constitutionality of the Beef Checkoff & plays a factor in the decision. OTLEY: It was decided by the leadership that we needed the flexibility that if the check off were to be found unconstitutional that we would be able to not be locked in to t.v. contracts. Therefore, we're going to be doing a lot more radio and a lot more print advertising during 2005 than we have in the past. This will give us a lot more flexibility. But that is not to say the popular ad campaign won't return to television after 2005, again dependant on how the Supreme Court rules on the check off case. Otley says it should, considering how effective the campaign is & noting the catchy slogan, sweeping Aaron Copeland music, and voiceovers by Sam Elliot & and as proven when measured and evaluated by specific market research. OTLEY: When you look at the slogan "Beef: It's what for dinner", the research we do on an annual basis tell us that eighty-four per cent of the people that we've talk to, that we've asked questions of about advertising, recognizes the association between "Beef: It's what for dinner" and the products that our industry produces. To the person outside the advertising industry that may not seem like a particularly high figure, but let me tell you, that's a phenomenally high figure. There are corporations in this country that literally spend hundreds of millions of dollars a year on advertising that would give their eye teeth for that kind of percentage rate.
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