Deere Landscapes

Chuck Zimmerman

I’ll bet you didn’t know John Deere is into landscaping did you? I didn’t until I was out on a Drive Green Utility Tractor Show stop. It’s called John Deere Landscapes.

John Deere Landscapes approaches the Industry from a whole new vantage point. Like you, we face the future with a healthy respect for the past. Our heritage is one of true value-added customer service, and our combined companies offer over 30 years of success in the industry, based on that same outstanding level of customer service. This story continues as we grow, expanding our branch network. At John Deere Landscapes, we want to be where you need us. So come on in… find out what we do, and how we strive every day to support the Industry’s top professionals.

When I was on location at our Houston stop I met Ronnie Borel who is an outside sales representative for John Deere Landscapes. He gave me an overview of the products offered by this division of the company. He says they offer about 95% of what the landscape contractor needs.

You can listen to my interview with Ronnie here: drive-green-houston-landscape.mp3

In Raleigh, while I was at the Dixie Deer Classic stop, I met the Nobles who have their own landscaping business. Although they own a John Deere tractor, they’re in the market for one with a little more horsepower. The Drive Green Utility Tractor Show is certainly the place to do that.

You can listen to my interview with the Nobles here or watch them in the video: drive-green-raleigh-landscaping.mp3

I’ll be on the Drive Green highway once again this week in Danville, KY where the show stops at the Boyle County Fairgrounds.

Audio, John Deere, Video

Agencies Behind Consumers Online

Chuck Zimmerman

This story got me fired up on a Monday morning.

It’s nice to be ahead of the curve don’t you think? Hopefully, a growing number of you agrimarketers out there are jumping onto the online bandwagon. Your customers are already there. Yes, farmers too. But how many of you still can’t grasp the concept of what a blog is or Twitter? Agencies, how are you really serving your client’s needs when you don’t understand the concepts much less the technology? Is pasting a paragraph of text on a web page a blog? No. But I still see some of these weak attempts to “get with it.”

I know that there are many of you who get it. But there are still a lot who don’t. Take a look at this excerpt from a story on AdWeek about an IBM consumer research project.

NEW YORK Ad agencies are years behind in catching up to digitally savvy consumers who are moving their media habits online more quickly than expected, according to new global research from the IBM Institute for Business Value.

The first thing that popped into my mind was, “than who expected?” It has seemed obvious for years that consumers (farmers) were moving media habits online. Even ag industry research like the USDA NASS surveys and NAFB has shown this.

IBM found that between 2007 and 2008, the proportion of consumers saying they used social-networking tools soared to 60 percent from 33 percent; for online and portable music services it more than doubled to 46 percent; mobile Internet nearly tripled to 41 percent; and access to mobile music and video quadrupled to 35 percent.

In contrast, 80 percent of the ad executives interviewed expect the industry to be at least five years away from being able to deliver cross-platform advertising, encompassing sales, delivery, measurement and analysis.

Five years away from being able to effectively place your client advertising dollars? I’m not sure I get that. I think what it means is that social networking and new media channels of communication don’t fit into nice little computer programs with pretty charts and graphs. It would be nice if it did but while we wait for people who are way geekier than me to come up with all that, how about getting started and investing your media dollars where your customers are? Spend a portion of it at least and start to figure it out before someone else does and you’re wondering where all your business went.

Most new media advertising is less expensive than traditional media. Is it possible that the fear that “we won’t make as much money” is keeping some back from investing in it?

You might want to take a look at the IBM research which is available online:

Beyond advertising: Choosing a strategic path to the digital consumer (pdf)
By Saul Berman, Bill Battino and Karen Feldman

Succeeding in the new economic environment: Focus on value, opportunity, speed (pdf)
By Saul Berman, Steven Davidson, Sara Longworth and Amy Blitz

via Steve Rubel (his Twitter feed btw)

Advertising

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Previously labeled for use on pigs three weeks of age or older only, pork producers can now vaccinate piglets against salmonellosis at one day and older orally or intranasally with Salmo Shield Live.
  • Important communications lessons learned from the biofuels industry’s fall from grace will be presented at the upcoming Communicating Renewables Summit, April 21-23, 2009 in Minneapolis, MN. Click here for the full conference program and registration information.
  • Purina introduces seven new horse feeds, designed to help horses obtain a shinier coat, healthier hooves, better body and muscle condition and overall better nutrition in 60 days. Six of the seven horse feeds contain Purina’s new, patented Amplify Nugget, a palatable and nutrient-rich extruded particle that is easy for horses to digest.
  • AG CONNECT Expo 2010 announces additional industry support for the show – a new International Fluid Power Exposition (IFPE) exhibit pavilion, sponsored by the National Fluid Power Association.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Essential Skills for the Digital Journalist

    Amanda Nolz

    Don’t miss your opportunity to sign up for Poynter’s upcoming seminar, Essential Skills for the Digital Journalist. The deadline is Monday, March 23, 2009, and the tuition is $895.00. It’s a little steep for my budget, but I think this is a great investment for any print journalists at every experience level who want to ensure they have the skills they need to weather the digital transition. In every one of my journalism courses at South Dakota State University, my professors preach about the challenges of anyone in the print journalism field. I think it’s going to be increasingly important to stay ahead of the curve and be able to use online media tools with ease. If you agree, and if this seminar sounds interesting to you, here is what Poynter has to say about this seminar.

    Get the skills you need to thrive in journalism’s digital age: Master the basics of audio, video and other multimedia tools. We’ll teach you the key skills, as well as how to navigate ethical pressure points in emerging platforms. Most importantly, we’ll explore how to change the way you think about storytelling and the role of independent journalism in the service of democracy.

    You’ll learn: Key multimedia skills, including audio and video. How to recognize and negotiate the ethical issues specific to multimedia. What it takes to survive and thrive in a constantly changing landscape. How and why you need to build your brand as a journalist. The leadership skills and knowledge you need to chart your own career path.

    Education

    Become a Master of Beef Advocacy

    Amanda Nolz

    beef20check20color Last October, a new checkoff-funded program was released called Master of Beef Advocacy (MBA). The program consists of six, 1-hour core courses for the 2009 fiscal year: beef safety, beef nutrition, animal care, environmental stewardship, modern beef production and the beef checkoff. This self-guided, online program is a way to equip producers with the tools needed to represent the beef industry with consumers and the media.

    I recently spoke with MBA contact person Daren Williams about the success of the program, and he says that MBA is off to a great start! To date, 250 individuals have applied to participate in the program. Participants are moving quickly through the courses, and the program continues to grow. Daren also asked why my name was missing from the participant list, and I told him I had to pass my final semester of classes at SDSU before I started tackling my Master of Beef Advocacy degree.

    I think this program is an excellent marketing strategy on a grassroots level. Cattle producers will improve their ability to communicate their knowledge in this industry to those that need to hear it most. This is in an outstanding way to start spreading a positive message about food production and animal agriculture. I think this is a good case study to observe, and this concept could be used in other ways in this industry. As for now, I better get to studying. Graduation is only a couple months away, and I’m excited to start my Master of Beef Advocacy course!

    To learn more about the Master of Beef Advocacy program, link to the press release here, contact Daren Williams at dwilliams@beef.org, 303-850-3346 or contact their state beef council.

    Education

    Adelstein Nominated To USDA RUS Admin

    Chuck Zimmerman

    USDA Rural DevelopmentI just noticed in Broadcasting & Cable magazine that Jonathan Adelstein has been nominated by the Prez to head up USDA’s Rural Utilities Service. He’s an FCC Commissioner currently.

    Adelstein would be administrator of the RUS program. The White House gave Adelstein props for “efforts to improve rural telecommunication s and broadband” while at the commission.

    The story says RUS has $2.5 billion in broadband stimulus grants to hand out.

    Internet, USDA

    JIF Most Creative Peanut Butter Sandwich

    Chuck Zimmerman

    A lot of people might have stopped eating peanut butter recently but I’m sure not one of them. I’m glad to see that Smuckers continued it’s annual Most Creative Peanut Butter Sandwich Contest. Somehow in all the excitement of Ag Day and spring I missed the fact that they announced the winner of this year’s contest. This sounds like a recipe worth trying.

    Today, the makers of Jif(R) peanut butter announced Jordyn Boyer, 10, of Lebanon, PA, as the winner of the Seventh Annual “Jif(R) Most Creative Peanut Butter Sandwich Contest(TM).” Jordyn was inspired by an authentic Louisiana sandwich to create her Po’ Boy Peanut Butter Chicken Cheesesteak Sandwich. Her sandwich is made with Jif Creamy Peanut Butter, chicken, peppers, onions and mozzarella cheese. For added flavor, she created a dipping sauce of Jif peanut butter, Worcestershire sauce, honey and honey mustard. Jif, the trusted pantry staple for more than 50 years, awarded Jordyn with a $25,000 scholarship fund, a Jif gift basket and the title of the nation’s most creative peanut butter sandwich.

    Food, Peanuts

    NE Pork Talking About Ag Day

    Chuck Zimmerman

    NE Pork TalkThe latest edition of the Pork Industry Report from the Nebraska Pork Producers Association is all about National Agriculture Day.

    You can listen to Dee explain things in this week’s program here: ne-pork-03-20-09.mp3

    Ag Groups, Audio, Pork

    Quarry Integrates Ag Day

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Quarry Integrated CommunicationsQuarry is taking the celebration of agriculture across the border.

    Quarry Integrated Communications is using National Ag Day in the U.S. and National Agriculture Awareness Day in Canada (Jan. 28) as a platform to increase awareness and appreciation for one of North America’s largest and most significant industries among its non-agricultural teammates.

    Through a series of unique workplace initiatives, including presentations about the economic impact of agriculture in Canada and the United States, Quarry is seeking to make each of its teammates ambassadors for agriculture in the communities where Quarry has offices – Raleigh-Durham, N.C., San Jose, Calif., and Waterloo and Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

    “The January and March Ag Day commemorations were introduced in Canada and the U.S. because agriculture is an industry that increasingly many people don’t know much about – particularly those living in urban areas,” says Bob Wilbur, Senior Vice-President, Agri-Food at Quarry. “We want to do our part as an organization that’s committed to agriculture to raise awareness for its vital role in our society. Typically, people think of farming as a relatively homogeneous, simple way of life. But it’s actually quite the opposite – a diverse, complex and technologically-advanced industry. We are seeking to educate our non-ag Q-mates on the important role agriculture plays in the global economy and in the everyday lives of consumers like them.”

    Agencies

    ASFMRA Directory Advertising

    Chuck Zimmerman

    ASFMRA DirectoryThe American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers wants to remind you that you’ve got another week to get your ad in their annual directory.

    Whatever it takes, don’t miss this chance. Reach new customers, grow your business and stretch your advertising dollars.

    Simply click here, fill out the order form and click to submit. If you don’t have an ad ready, just let us know and we’ll design it for you!

    The ASFMRA member directory will be mailed directly to 2,500+ members, suppliers, organizations, educators and other decision makers. This is the perfect chance to tell your customers the benefits of doing business with you – stand out from the crowd and jump from the page!

    Ad deadline is Friday, March 27. Simply click here, fill out the order form and click to submit.

    Ag Groups