Gettin Figgy With It

Chuck Zimmerman

California Fig Advisory BoardHow many of you remember “Ooee, gooey, rich and chewey inside . . . ?” When I was in high school we had a social club that used that as our theme song. We would even go to a grocery store together signing it while we all picked up a package of Fig Newtons and went through checkout in a line. Yes, we were weird. But we were ready to “Experience the power of the fig.” That’s the new tag line Kraft/Nabisco’s using for its latest campaign, along with the California Fig Advisory Board.

It looks like Weber Shandwick’s getting to do the PR on this. I found it from their news release on PRNewswire today. The release contains all kinds of nutritional information but no jingle (bummer). The creative showing on the California Fig Advisory Board website looks like a print ad that’s pretty lame in my opinion. It shows a greek olympic discus thrower and has a little Q & A on it. Not very exciting. How about a new jingle? Better yet, let’s sing, “Golden, flaky, tender cakey, outside . . . !” How about a national everybody sing the Fig Newton jingle week? Lean out of your windows and sing at the top of your lungs, “Wrap the inside in the outside . . . ”

California Fig Advisory Board and Fig Newtons (R) Come Together to Officially Declare First-Ever Fig Appreciation Week

FRESNO, Calif., Aug. 11- It’s a fact … figs are fabulous! Yet most people haven’t yet realized the potential to “Experience the Power of the Fig!”(TM) That’s why this week many “Friends of Fig” are rallying in Fresno, Calif., the “fig capital,” of the country to help this small but mighty fruit take a stand and get the recognition it has long deserved!

The California Fig Advisory Board and Fig Newtons — two of the most well- known fig aficionados — are bringing food, nutrition and fitness experts together to kick-off the first-ever official “Fig Appreciation Week” on August 13th, 2005.

For more information contact Michelle Zmuda.

Agencies, Agribusiness

Surveying Farm Direct Marketing & Agritourism

Chuck Zimmerman

North American Farmers' Direct Marketing AssociationThe North American Farmers’ Direct Marketing Association is attempting to get some major feedback from an industry wide survey. Association executive director Charlie Touchette says in his letter “The farm direct marketing and agritourism industry is perhaps the fastest growing sector related to agriculture today. Some of you have been on the cutting edge of this farm and ranch survival strategy for decades. Some are just entering this realm of diversification, and some new entry farmers and ranchers consider it to be the only feasible way to enter into agriculture at all.”

The North American Farmers’ Direct Marketing Association (NAFDMA), together with various local, state, and provincial associations, is conducting a survey to identify the status and trends of farm direct marketing. This survey offers an opportunity for those active in farm marketing and agritourism to give input and ideas to help prioritize issues that should be addressed in the future. An invitation to participate in this survey has been distributed to over 2000 farm direct marketing and agritourism operations that have had some connection to NAFDMA or their local associations in the past five years. We invite you to share the survey link with anyone else you think might be interested in filling it out.

To entice people to participate they’re offering some serious incentives: “The first 777 completed surveys will be entered into a drawing to win your choice either of a $1900+ USD value to attend the NAFDMA Convention in San Antonio and Austin, Texas, or $1000 CASH.”

The survey is being conducted by Michigan State University, with significant input from NAFDMA and the Texas Department of Agriculture. Funding is coming from NRCS, Texas Dept. of Ag and the Michigan Agricultural Experimental Station.

Agribusiness, University

State Fair Beef Promotion In Missouri

Chuck Zimmerman

MBIC Report PodcastIt’s state fair time in Missouri and in this week’s Missouri Beef Industry Council Report, we learn about what the organization is doing to promote beef in Sedalia, MO. Cindy interviews MBIC marketing director, Dawn Thurnau.

You can listen to the MBIC Report here Download MP3 File

The MBIC Report is a weekly AgWired podcast which you can subscribe to using the link in our sidebar.

Ag Groups, Audio, Beef, Podcasts

Draxxin – New From Pfizer Animal Health

Chuck Zimmerman

Draxxin Injectable SolutionI recently received the media kit for the Draxxin Injectable Solution annoucement from Pfizer Animal Health. Besides letting you know about it I thought I’d comment on the “kit.” I think it’s nice to receive a very easy to use and functional media kit like this. Basically it came with a nice explanatory cover letter from the agency (Rhea & Kaiser) and a CD which contains the news release, photos, logo, faq’s, research reports on the product, the label and contacts for more information. Very creatively done, excellent graphic work, the disk worked and was easy to use.

Draxxin Media KitSince this is a new product launch it’s obvious that more budget was put into the announcement by providing us with this quality of materials. It was mailed the good old fashioned way. Another approach would have been to have it created on the company website and I could have been emailed a link to it in a release. This would have prompted me to look at it sooner. I confess to letting this sit on my desk for a week or so before loading the disk into my computer. (I’m not lazy just using every second that’s available!)

I have to say that audio would have been handy. With a CD it would be easy to have some interviews recorded and placed on the disk for us podcasters or broadcasters or how about those print folks who have broadcast or web based audio content now? Gimme some sound! Maybe even a little video?

I like the name. Kind of reminds me of Hugo Drax for all you James Bond fans.

Pfizer Animal Health Introduces DRAXXIN™ (tulathromycin) Injectable Solution – New, single-dose antibacterial provides superior treatment for bovine respiratory disease

NEW YORK – A new, single-dose antibacterial that provides more effective treatment of bovine respiratory disease (BRD) has been developed by Pfizer Animal Health. Clinical studies and field trials demonstrate that new DRAXXIN is highly efficacious for treating naturally occurring respiratory disease in cattle. 1

“Our goal in developing DRAXXIN was to set a new standard of effectiveness for treatment of costly livestock diseases,” said Ann Jernigan, DVM, PhD, vice president, Veterinary Medicine Research and Development, Pfizer Animal Health.

DRAXXIN is indicated for treatment of BRD and control of respiratory disease in cattle at high risk of developing BRD caused by Mannheimia haemolytica, Pasteurella multocida and Histophilus somni(Haemophilus somnus).

For more information contact Dave Harding.

Agencies, Agribusiness

Rabobank Selects Morgan & Myers

Chuck Zimmerman

Morgan & MyersAlways happy to see announcements from my agency friends. This time it’s Morgan & Myers who have to be happy. As a former broadcaster it’s nice to see a plan for a blend of print and radio!

Rabobank Selects Morgan&Myers for Advertising Work – “Vision” Campaign Focuses on Helping Farmers Succeed

RabobankWATERLOO, Iowa August 9, 2005 Rabobank International has selected Morgan&Myers as its agency of record to develop an advertising program to reach the U.S. production agricultural market. Scheduled to start in September, the “Vision” campaign includes both print and radio advertising.

“Rabobank is committed to the success of U.S. agriculture, and we are equally committed to providing American farmers and ranchers with superior financial products and expert local service,” says Lynne Burns, head of corporate communications for Rabobank International-Americas. “The eye-catching advertising developed by Morgan&Myers tells producers that Rabobank has the resources, expertise and commitment to help them succeed and it helps build familiarity with our name.”

Janine Whipps, principal and director of integrated marketing services for Morgan&Myers, adds, “We have a lot of experience reaching Rabobank’s target audience of top tier production farmers. Rabobank’s financial strength, agricultural heritage, and commitment to agriculture make a compelling story. And, the team has been given the freedom to develop creative that will get attention. It’s a good fit.”

For more information contact Janine Whipps, 319.233.0502 or Lynne Burns, 212.808.2581.

Agencies, Agribusiness

Jeff Koenig Commodity Blogger

Chuck Zimmerman

Jeff Koenig.comYou know I love a blogger so I really like what Jeff Koenig is doing with his website. Jeff is using blogging software to build a very interesting site for his business which is full service or discount futures brokerage services for hedging. I think it’s laid out very well. It’s simple and contains a ton of information. You have to register in order to enter the site and see what’s he writes though. As he explains on the site, it’s because of the nature of the content and regulations that he has to adhere to. Registration is free and simple though. Once you’re inside you can find links to his commentary which is written as short articles like you’ll find on AgWired. They contain links and images. He also has sections with a weather product that localizes for you automatically, news stories that he collects using RSS subscriptions and of course a section on quotes and bids.

Jeff used to title his site “The Writing On The Wall” and you can find out why when you visit. You may wonder at the value of a site that has a lot of information on it that you can find in other places but Jeff says why best “More than ever, industry is full of information however information doesn’t equal knowledge. Knowledge only comes from careful filtering and synthesis of information.” What Jeff does is filter through information for his clients and visitors. That’s what I think we do here at AgWired for anyone in the agricultural marketing and communications field. We try to look through all of what’s out there and bring you what we think you’d be interested in knowing.

Good job Jeff and good luck!

Agribusiness

Bayer/Doane Desktop Rust Alert Tool

Chuck Zimmerman

Bayer Crop Science Desktop AlertI’m not a big fan of installing extra software on my computer but for someone who wants the latest information on soybean rust this is an interesting tactic. Bayer CropScience and Doane Agricultural Services have launched a desktop tool called the FOLICUR® Fungicide First Desktop Alert. You have to go to the site and register and download the tool. I haven’t done it and would be interested to know the results of this project. It’s designed to work on both a dialup or broadband internet connection.

I think it’s an interesting use of the internet and shows that there’s lots of creative ways you can assist customers/prospective customers with information they want and need in a very “commercial” way.

Agribusiness, Internet

Linn Group Releases Crop Estimates

Chuck Zimmerman

Linn GroupI assume the Linn Group sent this information out so that we would pass it along. They’ve produced some corn and soybean crop estimates on a nice looking map with breakouts by state. You can see the map here.

The Linn Group, a Chicago Board of Trade based consulting firm, released their National and Missouri 2005 crop production estimates for August 1 today which featured sharply lower corn yields from year ago record levels. Hot temperatures and a
persistent drought during the growing season reduced dramatically crops in Missouri and Illinois.

For more information it looks like you should contact Igor Rubchinsky.

Agribusiness

Missouri Drought Subject of CornTalk

Chuck Zimmerman

CornTalk PodcastMO Governor Matt Blunt has requested a disaster declaration for farmers in over 100 counties in Missouri due to drought conditions. In this week’s CornTalk, the weekly interview program of the Missouri Corn Growers Association, our guest is Judy Grundler with the Missouri Department of Agriculture who discusses the crop conditions around the state, what the crop losses mean for Missouri, and the details of the crop disaster declaration.

You can listen to CornTalk here Download MP3 File

CornTalk is a weekly podcast on AgWired which you can subscribe to using the link in our sidebar.

Ag Groups, Audio, Corn, Podcasts

NAFB Convention Registration Available

Chuck Zimmerman

National Association of Farm BroadcastersIf you want to attend this year’s National Association of Farm Broadcasters convention you can register online. The convention will be held as usual at the Westin Crown Plaza in Kansas City, MO, November 9-11.

NAFB