Osborn & Barr Redefines Role of Media Department

Chuck Zimmerman

Osborn-Barr CommunicationsI think this is the most exciting time in agricultural communications that I’ve ever seen! I’ve been involved in presentations and discussions today in the Des Moines area that I wish I could have recorded. The questions being asked and the options to reach farmers being discussed are revolutionary. Speaking of revolutionary how about this announcement from Osborn & Barr Communications?

Recognizing the impact of today’s media technology and its impact on delivering innovative solutions, Osborn & Barr has redefined the role of its media department.

Wow! “today’s media technology,” “impact,” “redefined.” There’s more . . .

The media staff provides interactive solutions and ideas on strategic tie-in opportunities in addition to strategic advertising planning and placement to ensure that brand building and brand maintenance maximize the effectiveness of communications. As data and metrics allow media professionals to better pinpoint specific vehicles and methods to target niche audiences, media departments have an increasingly important role in the successful execution of communications plans as well as the growth of clients’ businesses.

“interactive solutions,” “niche audiences.” I love it.

“Twenty-five years ago, when there were only three networks, it only took an average of five hits with a television spot to reach your target audience,” explains Joe Osborn, president of Osborn & Barr Communications. “Today, target audiences are fragmented, and it is critical to develop and analyze data to segment audiences according to viewership and readership. We research new, efficient ways to reach the target audience and motivate them to the desired response.”

“audiences are fragmented,” “segment audiences,” “new,efficient ways to reach the target audience.” Right on Joe!

So without speculating on what all these things mean (call me, I’ll speculate with you), how are they going to get this done? For one thing they’re bringing on new staff to help them reach these objectives.

Courtney Floresca joined Osborn & Barr as media supervisor, bringing her expertise in management, planning, research and sales for national accounts. Well versed in sales strategies and sales goals, Courtney analyzes and negotiates buys based on efficiency, selectivity and environment. She has 13 years of advertising experience on the agency and media sides of the desk, including many successful years in television and radio sales.

Nancy SchieraNancy Schiera was hired as media team leader for Osborn & Barr. Her experience in planning and developing regional and local marketing plans for home products is an asset to Osborn & Barr’s growing home products and services segment as well as the agency’s John Deere account. As an account executive and senior media planner and buyer for Gish, Sherwood & Friends in Nashville, Tennessee, Nancy negotiated network, cable, radio, outdoor and print for clients such as Carrier and Bryant Air Conditioners and Furnaces. Prior to that, Nancy was a senior media buyer for Leo Burnett U.S.A. in Chicago, Illinois, where her clients included such well-known brands as Ameritech, Amoco, Kellogg, Hallmark and Maytag.

McKenzie FrancisMcKenzie Francis was hired as a media assistant. McKenzie has worked in account management and sales for Clear Channel radio in St. Louis, where she was responsible for establishing and servicing accounts, securing sponsorships for station events and scheduling advertising campaigns.

Agencies, Media

Thank You Keith Good

Chuck Zimmerman

FarmPolicy.comI’m going to make a couple of remarks about Keith Good. The post before this is Keith’s weekly Tuesday farm trade and policy post that he’s been doing for months on AgWired. However, it’s his last one (although I’m thinking we haven’t heard the last from him).

Keith mentions this in his last post. What he doesn’t go into detail about is the fact that his personal business has grown due to his blogging and his daily e-news publication! Keith is in demand and the demand was built by his courage and abilities to try something that very few have been doing (yet). You can’t read Keith in newspapers, magazines or hear him on radio or see him on tv. He’s a web publisher and a great success story. Web publishing of good content (text, audio, video) is the new media we are all seeing happen right before our eyes and agribusiness is part of the revolution.

Before Keith started FarmPolicy.com he wasn’t widely known as an expert on farm policy. He started small and patiently posted good content day after day. Although I’m not sure of his exact start date I think he’s been blogging and writing for at least a year. Keith is a shining example of how to do it right. I think we can all learn a lot from that.

Keith, we here at ZimmComm apppreciate your contributions to AgWired. Our readers have benefited and we’ll miss the regular post but we’ll keep an eye on your site and point people your way when we can.

If you’re not subscribing to Keith’s daily e-news just visit FarmPolicy.com to get started. As one of his subscribers says, “Farm Policy is the first email I read in the morning. As a congressional staffer who does Ag issues, I find it essential.”

Farm Policy

Ethanol & Global Hunger

Keith Good

FarmPolicy.comAs domestic ethanol production continues to grow, agricultural observers can quickly and easily see many of the potential benefits: increased investment in the rural economy, the environmental benefits of using a renewable fuel, and increased demand for corn, which can lead to higher incomes for corn growers.

However, New York Times reporter Matthew L. Wald, in an article published in yesterday’s paper, provided a look at a potential downfall of increased corn based ethanol production: global hunger.

According to Mr. Wald, “The rising corn prices may be good news for farmers, but they are worrying some food planners.

“‘We’re putting the supermarket in competition with the corner filling station for the output of the farm,’ said Lester R. Brown, an agriculture expert in Washington, D.C., and president of the Earth Policy Institute. Farms cannot feed all the world’s people and its motor vehicles as well, Mr. Brown said, and the result is that more people will go hungry.”

The Times article also included the perspective of Joachim von Braun, the director of the International Food Policy Research Institute who noted that “the mouth of your car is a monster compared to your family’s stomach needs.”

On the other hand, the Times included the view of Nick Young, the president of an agriculture consulting firm, Promar, in Alexandria, Va., who indicated that, “it was an exaggeration to say that nonfood use of crops will make the world’s poor go hungry, but he added that the use of vegetable oil as a substitute for diesel fuel had already driven up the price of canola oil.”

As ethanol use continues to grow, it’s likely that media reports covering various aspects of the industry will continue to grow as well.

***

As it turns out, today will be my last guest post at AgWired.com. Activity surrounding my Email newsletter, FarmPolicy.com, continues to grow and requires more time and attention.

I have certainly enjoyed the opportunity to blog at what I consider to be the best ag related blog on the Internet. It has been a wonderful experience. Thanks for reading.

Keith Good writes The FarmPolicy.com News Summary, an Email newsletter containing a summary of news relating to U.S. farm policy which is published most weekdays. For more information, go to www.FarmPolicy.com.

Farm Policy

ABCKC Forum On Crisis Management

Chuck Zimmerman

Agricultural Business Council of Kansas CityEver had a crisis? Want to know how to manage one? Well now you can. The Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City is holding a forum on the subject at 3pm on January 27. It’s titled “Crisis Management in the Ever-Changing Agribusiness Arena.” The forum will be hosted by Hosted by Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P., 2555 Grand Blvd., 24th Floor, Kansas City, Mo.

SHB Partners Chris McDonald and Mark Anstoetter, together with Rick Thaemert, a senior partner at the public relations firm Fleishman-Hillard, will discuss crisis readiness and the elements of effective crisis management plans, including dealing with the media; complying with required notifications under the law; and preserving evidence that might be relevant to pending or threatened litigation. FBI Special Agent Craig Watz will discuss the government’s role and provide a short update on the bureau’s agroterrorism initiatives and the 2nd Annual International Symposium on Agroterrorism slated for September 2006 in Kansas City.

The 1.5-hour program will begin at 3 p.m., with a reception immediately following. Parking for the event will be available in SHB’s parking garage at 2555 Grand Blvd. Visitor parking is plentiful on the fourth, fifth and sixth levels of the facility. Take the parking garage elevator to level “L” and follow the walkway into the building. The registration table will be on the left as you enter the SHB lobby. Upon check in, please have your parking ticket validated and someone will then escort you to the 24th Floor Conference Center.

RSVP by January 24 to Agricultural Business Council Chair Gina Bowman-Morrill at GinaB@kc.rr.com or Tamy Brown at tnbrown@shb.com, (816) 474-6550, extension 20572.

Ag Groups, Agribusiness

NAMA Awards Deadline

Chuck Zimmerman

NAMAThe National Agri-Marketing Association is reminding you about the call for nominations for two of their annual awards. Here’s the information:

The deadline for submitting nominations for the Agribusiness Leader of the Year and the NAMA Marketer of the Year awards is January 20, 2006. Both awards will be presented at the 2006 Agri-Marketing Conference & Trade Show, April 19-21 in Kansas City.

The Agribusiness Leader of the Year award honors an outstanding leader in agribusiness, education, government service or other agribusiness related areas. Nominees do not need to be NAMA members. Download the Agribusiness Leader Nomination form in an Adobe .PDF format by visiting, http://www.nama.org/awards/agbusapplication.pdf.

NAMA recognizes its active members with senior management of marketing and/or sales responsibilities with the NAMA Marketer of the Year award. This award is the most prestigious honor awarded to an active member of the association and honors outstanding accomplishments in the field of agri-marketing directly to ag producers. Nominees MUST be NAMA members. Download the NAMA Marketer of the Year nomination form in an Adobe .PDF format by visiting, http://www.nama.org/awards/mktrapplication.pdf.

NAMA

A ZimmCast On Rural Internet Access

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast51-Tim GanschowThe issue of rural internet access is a very important one in agricultural marketing and communications today. Last week I posted the full presentation made by Tim Ganschow, Agristar Global Networks, at the Gateway NAMA meeting. I’ve selected a couple of segments from Tim’s talk for you in this week’s ZimmCast. I hope you enjoy it.

You can listen to this week’s ZimmCast here: Download MP3 File

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired which you can subscribe to using the link in our sidebar. You can also now find the ZimmCast on CoolCast Radio or subscribe in iTunes.

Agribusiness, Audio, Internet, NAMA, Podcasts, ZimmCast

Newest O&B Hires In KC

Chuck Zimmerman

Benjamin RicheyAt least Osborn & Barr only announced 2 new hires this time (saves time on posting). I will post a picture of Amy as soon as I get one. In this case they’re adding to their Kansas City office.

Benjamin Richey brings a combination of marketing and livestock experience to his new role as account executive for Intervet and National Pork Board at Osborn & Barr Communications. Most recently, he was the director of communications at the National Institute for Animal Agriculture (NIAA). He has also worked with the National Swine Registry and the National Pork Board. He received a bachelor of science in animal science and agricultural communication at Purdue University.

And also . . .

Amy McCreaAmy McCrea joined Osborn & Barr in the new position of integrated marketing project coordinator for John Deere’s new dealer advertising program. Amy is the communications liaison for participating John Deere dealers, John Deere and the Osborn & Barr marketing team. Amy worked on new product introductions during her summer internship at John Deere in 2005 before completing her bachelor of science in agricultural business at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville. Amy has also interned for Farm Credit Services of Missouri and United States Congressman Sam Graves.

Agencies

I’m Not Green With Envy

Chuck Zimmerman

I wanted to use the photo but you’ll have to visit CNN.com to see it. A flourescent green pig. Somehow the thought of green ribs or a nice glowing green loin roast just doesn’t appeal to me. What am I talking about? A story on CNN about these Chinese scientists who are breeding transgenic pigs. From the story:

By injecting fluorescent green protein into embryonic pigs, a research team at the island’s leading National Taiwan University managed to breed three male transgenic pigs, said professor Wu Shinn-Chih of the university’s Institute and Department of Animal Science and Technology.

“There are partially fluorescent green pigs elsewhere, but ours are the only ones in the world that are green from inside out. Even their hearts and internal organs are green,” Wu said on Thursday.

I am so glad to hear that their’s are the only ones “green from inside out.” I really don’t think I want any others even a little bit green!

International, University

Wood You Visit The Idea Outpost

Chuck Zimmerman

Idea OutpostThe latest agency to be added to our “Agencies” listing page is Idea Outpost. I just thought I’d bring them to your attention because they contacted me and I like their website. Also, I like working with wood, even though I don’t have any time to spend in my shop and don’t know when the last time was I used my tools. I bring this up because they use a wood theme and background. I like the clever quips like, “Staring at wood can be very inspirational. Or knot.” The site is clean, simple, easy to find all the information I want about them. This is the way a website should function.

Agencies

Podcasting Applicable For Associations

Chuck Zimmerman

A friend just sent me a copy of a recent article in Association Trends about podcasting. It requires registration to get to it. However, the one line that I can share from it is, “Not every hot new trend is applicable for assns, but podcasting certainly is!” Pretty enthusiastic endorsement for using the 2005 New Oxford American Dictionary word of the year. Even my hometown newspaper is writing about it.

Just like blogging gives an association or company a very personal way to communicate with it’s membership and customers, podcasting takes it a step further. Many associations are using audio in what I call a “traditional” way. They produce sound bites or interviews and make them available to “media” hoping it will get aired. They aren’t thinking of using it to communicate directly with their members. Why not? Your members and customers can get it and are. Are they hearing it from you?

The article I mentioned above was submitted by Gary LaBranche, who is CEO of the Association Forum of Chicagoland. Their mission statement is “Advance the professional practice of association management.” If you visit their site you’ll see that they’re podcasting. They’ve even created a nice page about podcasting. You can hear his latest podcast here.

There is one farm “association” that I know of that’s already podcasting and that’s the Missouri Beef Industry Council. It’s a weekly interview about their activities. Their members can hear it directly from them and they do. We produce this report and track the number of times it’s downloaded. According to the statistics there’s a growing number of listeners. You can see the link to their podcast on their homepage and on their blog.

It’s not a fad but is a hot trend. Like blogging I have to ask if you’re considering it. Are you? If so and you’d like to learn more about it you know who to call.

Ag Groups, Podcasts