Joining forces: State councils, NCBA expand digital advertising
State beef councils around the country are joining forces to invest beef checkoff dollars in the “Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner.” digital advertising campaign. According to the Federation of State Beef Councils, these efforts will significantly expand beef promotion in individual states as well as in consumer-abundant U.S. regions.
“The reason we are pushing to expand is because the ‘Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner.’ campaign is highly regarded and highly respected among millennial parents, and we want them to be aware and have access to great recipes, local production practices and preparation tips during the summer season,” states Ann Wittmann, executive director of the Wyoming Beef Council.
Advertising campaign
In a press release dated June 2, the federation notes 17 state beef councils have joined them in a partnership to invest beef checkoff dollars in the national “Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. campaign.”
“Four multi-state collaborative media campaigns have been created, with states focusing on four regions – the southeast, the western states, the top five states and the Midwest – with campaigns targeting beef consumers,” explains the federation.
The federation also says states have spent more than $1.1 million in state-controlled checkoff dollars toward the campaigns so far in 2020.
“Because the NCBA staff has expertise in advertising and marketing, the campaign can efficiently focus more directly on checkoff-funded ‘Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner.’ digital media related to beef cooking, nutrition and production, helping optimize the campaign,” they say.
Buck Wehrbeini, chairman of the Federation of State Beef Councils comments, “Through these campaigns state beef councils can extend both national and state-developed content, leveraging funds from both the national and state halves of the dollar per head national beef checkoff to reach consumers and promote a consistent beef message.”
“This allows state beef councils to spend their dollars more efficiently, focusing on stories about local producers while expanding distribution of recipes and other national ‘Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner.’ assets throughout the country,” Wehrbeini continues. “The extension is a great example of how individual state beef councils and the Federation of State Beef Councils partner on projects and efforts that help strengthen beef demand.”
Reaching out through popular platforms
In collaboration with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), the councils are currently working to provide reach to nearly 70 million consumers, creating more than 733,000 visits to the “Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner.” website.
The councils have gone about advertising through a number of different, popular platforms, including Google Search advertising, YouTube video advertising and Spotify audio streaming.
“Google Search ads deliver hundreds of thousands of consumers to the ‘Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner.’ website,” states the Federation of State Beef Councils. “YouTube ads showcase beef through the power of advertising and inspiring consumers with crave-worthy beauty shots of beef. YouTube is the new TV, with the world watching one billion hours of YouTube videos daily.”
The federation notes through YouTube video advertising, they have generated an estimated 56 million national and state video views.
“Spotify is the world’s largest and fastest growing radio streaming platform and radio ads on this platform bring to life the sizzling sounds of beef, backed by beef’s signature Copeland Rodeo music,” the federation continues. “We have produced more than 2.3 million radio listens on the Spotify platform.”
Wittmann notes, “We want producers to know we are constantly monitoring consumer reactions to what is happening in the beef industry, the economy and in the U.S., and we are tailoring our programs daily so our messages are relevant, meaningful and impactful toward building beef demand.”
Hannah Bugas is the assistant editor for the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.
