Multi-media Ethanol Promotion Day

Chuck Zimmerman

Jeff Simmons Pumping GasAnother day, another chance to promote ethanol. Most of my morning was working with Team Ethanol on a pump promotion in Kansas City. We braved the cold temperatures to bring some joy and information into the lives of consumers who came out to get some reduced price gas containing ethanol.

Team Ethanol car driver Jeff Simmons was on hand to help out too. Here he is pumping gas along with the rest of the crew. Jeff also signed autographs and even gave away a few tickets to the race.

I’ll be here in Kansas City all weekend working with the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council in various ways. I’ll be posting content onto AgWired and Domestic Fuel. In addition, I’m the still photographer and doing audio interviews like the one I’ve got for you here with Jeff Simmons. We’ll use the audio in the EPIC podcast, “Fill Up Feel Good.” I’m also shooting video and did one-on-one interviews with consumers and people like Jeff. You could definitely say it’s been a multi-media kind of day. I’m uploading all my photos to an online photo album which you can find here: 2007 Kansas Lottery Indy 300 Photo Album.

Jeff says he got good questions from consumers as he was pumping gas for them. He also says that he and his fellow drivers are extremely happy with the performance so far this year of their cars running on 100% ethanol.

Here’s my interview with Jeff:

kansas-city-07-simmons.mp3
Audio, Ethanol

Top Producer Tops NAAJ Awards

Chuck Zimmerman

Top Producer MagazineThe North American Agricultural Journalists annual meeting is over and some awards were presented. It looks like a big winner is Top Producer magazine.

TOP PRODUCER magazine, the leading business magazine for commercial farmers, recently took both first and second place in the North American Agricultural Journalists (NAAJ) annual writing contest in the “Series” category with its editorial coverage of two major agricultural industry issues – biofuels and transportation. Awards were presented at the NAAJ annual meeting held in Washington, D.C.

“Titans of Biofuels” earned first place honors for its series of stories profiling major biofuel manufacturers. The series, featured in fall 2006 issues of TOP PRODUCER, included the stories “Move Over Main Street,” October; “The Little Co-Op That Could,” October; “Over a Barrel,” November; and “Commander of the Fleet,” December.

Placing second was the TOP PRODUCER multi-story package on transportation issues in agriculture collectively titled “Freight Gridlock.” The series ran in the September 2006 issue of the magazine and included the articles “Rush Hour on the Rails” by Marcia Taylor, “No Budge on Barge Rates” by Jeanne Bernick and “Smooth Sailing on the Seas” by Linda H. Smith.

Publication

Learfield is Living The Country Life

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast-116 - Living The Country LifeIt looks like Living The Country Life is getting a big boost now that Meredith has teamed up with Learfield Communications. I recorded a conversation with Learfield’s Stan Koenigsfeld, who describes the whole project and what they are planning for those people who have an above average annual household income and live on 3 or more acres. Pictured here are Stan Koenigsfeld, President of Learfield’s News Division, Betsy Freese, Editor-in-Chief of Living the Country Life LLC, Tom Davis, Group Publisher and Doug Olson, VP Publishing, Successful Farming/WOOD/Living the Country Life and Operations.

Living The Country Life Team LeadersCapturing and serving the growing affluent rural lifestyle market is the goal of a newly created joint venture announced by Meredith Corporation and Learfield Communications, Inc. Learfield is purchasing an ownership stake in the Living the Country Life brand which will be managed jointly by the two companies under the name Living the Country Life LLC. Meredith will maintain controlling interest in the new company.

The Living the Country Life brand (www.livingthecountrylife.com) includes a magazine with a distribution of more than 200,000 highly targeted households; a weekly television show on RFD-TV; a web site; and the most comprehensive database of “ruralpolitans” available in the marketplace today. The new business will combine Living the Country Life’s current products with a nationally syndicated radio program and a greatly enhanced web presence. Also, the magazine will increase its frequency of publication.

You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: Listen To ZimmCastZimmCast 116 (18 min MP3)

Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:

zimmcast116-4-25-07.mp3

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired which you can subscribe to using the link in our sidebar. You can also subscribe in iTunes.

Audio, Internet, Publication, ZimmCast

Jeff Pigott Joins The Meyocks Group

Chuck Zimmerman

Jeff PiggotJeff Pigott has has joined The Meyocks Group as a group account director and member of the agency’s senior management team.

Before joining the agency, Pigott had been director of foodservice marketing for the National Pork Board since 2001. He also has more than 14 years of experience with advertising agencies: as a vice president, group account director with The Integer Group, Des Moines, and as an account supervisor with Noble & Associates, Springfield, Missouri. Jeff’s account experience includes McDonald’s, Tyson Foods, Johnsonville Foods and Sam’s Club among others. An Iowa native, Pigott earned a BBA degree from the University of Iowa and an MBA at Vanderbilt University.

Agencies

Pioneer Sponsoring Team Ethanol

Chuck Zimmerman

PioneerThe Ethanol Promotion and Information Council has a new team member. Pioneer Hi-Bred is now working with the group to educate consumers about the benefits of ethanol-enriched fuel. The effort includes funding for ethanol promotion and education programs.

“Ethanol is a factor in the effort to reduce our nation’s reliance on petroleum,” says Dean Oestreich, Pioneer president and DuPont vice president and general manager. “EPIC’s efforts, combined with our commitment to develop traits and technologies that help increase harvestable yield and ethanol production per acre, are helping create a promising future for biofuels,” says Oestreich.

The investment from Pioneer includes a sponsorship of Team Ethanol in the IndyCar Series for the 2007 season. This will be the first year in IndyCar Series’ history that all IndyCars will run on 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol. “This partnership will help raise awareness of the performance and environmental benefits of ethanol to consumers across the country,” says Tom Slunecka, EPIC executive director. “EPIC is pleased to have the support of Pioneer and applauds the company’s commitment to ethanol.”

“We’re racing to leverage our research, technology and agronomy expertise to help accelerate the availability and adoption of ethanol and other biofuels,” Oestreich says. “What better way to showcase the advances being made in alternative fuels than through our partnership with EPIC.”

As I’m sure you know, both EPIC and Pioneer are supporters and clients of ZimmComm. I’m on my way to Kansas City, MO today in fact to spend the rest of the week working with EPIC on events leading up to Sunday’s Kansas Lottery Indy 300 at the Kansas Speedway. You can expect to see posts from the events here and on our Domestic Fuel website.

Agribusiness, Pioneer

WMMB Elections Coming Up

Chuck Zimmerman

Wisconsin Milk Marketing BoardThe Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection is trying to get out the vote for the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board. The elections are coming up the week after next. Nine nominees have been certified.

For the media (and of course anyone online) the WMMB has created a page with pictures and bios to aid in a reporter’s coverage I guess. I think it looks like information the voters would want to find too.

DATCP is forwarding mail-in ballots to dairy producers who live within the eight districts. Producers who have not received a ballot by May 11 should contact Noel Favia at (608) 224-5140 or (800) 942-2474. Election results will be announced in June.

Ag Groups, Dairy

Beef in Boston

Chuck Zimmerman

Beef in BostonHere’s Kelly Dietrich, Dan Conner both Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative, Matthew Peebles, national beef ambassador and Jean O’Toole, NEBPI serving up some beef at this year’s Boston Marathon.

They also did a survey of people who came to the booth. The results to the question “Do you feel beef is part of a healthy diet?” 88 out of 91 people answered Yes. That’s 96.6%!

A volunteer beef brigade learned that many consumers will find and enjoy beef, even in the middle of a wild Nor’easter storm. The Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative (NEBPI), a project of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and several northeast state beef councils, braved what Boston media called “Monsoon Monday” to serve 4,000 barbecue beef samples and promote lean beef during the nation’s most famous foot race, April 16.

The severe weather kept all but 200,000 of the race’s heartiest fans on the sidelines. But that proved to be a blessing in disguise for reaching consumers with samples and information about healthy beef, said Kelly Dietrich, director of public relations for the beef checkoff initiative. Representatives of the Beef Checkoff Program’s National Beef Ambassadors assisted at the beef booth.

“A lot of spectators came back for seconds and thirds, and we were able to spend a lot more time answering questions and talking about beef nutrition with them than we would have had the weather been better,” added Emilie Miller, director of retail and foodservice for the project. The smaller crowd allowed the beef team to survey consumers one-on-one and promote the beef checkoff-funded Healthy Beef Cookbook. Spectators consumed 18 pans of shredded, fully cooked beef in BBQ sauce, compliments of Lloyds Barbeque Co.

Ag Groups, Beef, Food

Quarry Sprouts New Team Members

Chuck Zimmerman

Peter HohenadelIt looks like the ag business is good for Quarry Integrated Communications. They’ve added to their team and one of them includes a guy I’ve connected you to before because he’s one of them bloggers! You can see the link to his site below with his name.

“Serving existing client needs while growing our business is important,” says Bob Wilbur, Senior Vice President, Agri-Food at Quarry Integrated Communications. “We’re always looking to enhance the depth and breadth of our talent pool to ensure our clients have access to a team that’s client focused, forward looking and ready to offer a full gamut of marketing communication services.”

A ten-year veteran of Quarry, Peter Hohenadel (pictured top) returns to the organization as Vice President, Agri-Food Communications, based in Waterloo. Peter brings more than 20 years of agricultural marketing experience to Quarry, including strategic planning and client and business operations management.

Matt MullenMatthew Mullen joins Quarry’s Raleigh, North Carolina office as a Public Relations Specialist.

Matthew has completed his master’s work at the University of North Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communication and previously served as editor in a publishing company specializing in agricultural and global business trade magazines.

Sarah BrownSarah Brown also joins Quarry as a Public Relations Specialist, working out of the Waterloo, Ontario office.

Sarah has an agronomy degree from the University of Guelph and has agricultural industry experience in media relations, editorial content development and event management.

Agencies

Where You Are Coming From

Chuck Zimmerman

AgWired Visitor Geo OverlayI am constantly asked who visits AgWired and I wish I could provide some sort of answer that includes all your names, addresses, phone numbers, etc. However, that would violate privacy (if I even had it). Besides this website is all about you deciding to visit and not have to register and log in. That’s just so annoying isn’t it? Basically, I give freely and you get something I hope you like and find useful and entertaining.

I’ve pretty much converted my web analysis to Google Analytics and for some sites we’re also using Mint. This picture is from Google Analytics and it’s just one of the many ways they analyze traffic. It’s a snapshot of the first quarter of 2007. It takes the IP address of the computers that are connecting and creates this nice overlay. I just made a picture of the North American area but it shows them on a global map. AgWired has had visitors from 100 countries so far this year. The country with the least number of visits on the list is Zambia. The top five countries include in order, United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany and Poland.

Internet

USB Communications Contract RFP

Chuck Zimmerman

United Soybean BoardIt’s my understanding that the United Soybean Board has issued an RFP for its Communications Contract.

You can find the RFP on their website but will need to be registered to access it. I believe you can find it on this page.

Ag Groups, Soybean