CHICAGO (September 28, 1999) - The nation`s media featured favorable beef stories often over the past year, thanks to beef producers and their $1-per-head beef checkoff. A total of 7,965 placements were made for beef in magazines, newspapers and television from October 1998 to September 1999. These placements reflect efforts coordinated by the Food Communications program at the National Cattlemen`s Beef Association (NCBA) to generate publicity. They reached a total circulation of 1.1 billion.
The program`s goal was to keep beef top-of-mind and create excitement about beef products with the food media, culinary professionals and food marketing communicators. It was conducted under contract to the Cattlemen`s Beef Board.
Seventy percent of the efforts focused on chuck and round, including new value-added beef products. This is consistent with the beef industry`s objective to increase overall carcass value.
"Our efforts are having a huge, positive impact on beef visibility in the media," according to Don Wagner, a beef producer and auction market operator from Corydon, Iowa, and chairman of the beef industry`s Information Committee. "Using public relations to generate good publicity has given a tremendous boost to our overall marketing program."
Marlys Bielunski, NCBA director of Food Communications, says there are several individual projects that helped lead to the program`s success. A partnership with the Associated Press (AP), for instance, led to 10 recipe releases picked up by newspapers with a combined circulation of 83 million. One very successful AP release called Star Spangled Cheeseburgers was placed in 389 newspapers with combined circulation of 14.7 million.
Four full-color newspaper editorial pages produced through the NCBA Food Communications program reached 42.7 million consumers during the year. Ad equivalency value of these pages, which were co-funded by other food companies and organizations, was $3.7 million.
Placements also were made in key magazines such as Better Homes and Gardens, Good Housekeeping, Family Circle, Midwest Living, Parade, Woman`s World, Ladies` Home Journal, Cooking Light and Bon Appetit. Nine major magazines featured beef on their covers in the past year, thanks to checkoff efforts.
"Our broad-based media work is built on long-standing relationships with many people in media and the food business," says Bielunski. "We`ve developed a lot of trust with these individuals and publications. They know they can depend on NCBA to provide them with high quality beef materials, accurate information and delicious recipe ideas and serving suggestions."
Television and books are other ways the Food Communications program reached consumers, according to Bielunski. For example, a recent 5-minute segment on In Food Today on the TV Food Network was the result of checkoff-funded efforts. The TV Food Network has 35 million cable subscribers. And releases from the checkoff-funded America`s Favorite Beef Recipes cookbook generated 730 placements in publications with combined circulation of 22.4 million.
Bielunski stresses that top priorities for the industry were successfully addressed through the program. For instance, information about the chuck and round generated 3,814 placements with combined circulation of more than 567 million.
"By targeting our efforts and focusing our messages, we were able to maximize our effectiveness on behalf of beef producers," says Bielunski. "The results we generate year-in and year-out are a testament to the reputation we`ve established, the specific direction given by the producers on our committees and the hard work of our staff."
CHECKOFF GENERATES PLACEMENTS - - SIDEBAR
Partnership Leads to Publicity
A placement in the October issue of Cooking Light magazine is a good example of an NCBA-developed relationship that leads to great publicity. "Keeping the Classics Quick" is a feature that showcases Burgundy Beef made with fully-cooked beef pot roast. Linda West Eckhart, a cookbook author and journalist who has worked with the NCBA Food Communications program as a spokesperson did recipe development. She also appeared and promoted heat-and-serve beef products on the TV Food Network in April and is participating in a satellite media tour for beef in November.
"These kinds of partnerships are crucial to our ability to get our messages out widely and with credibility," says NCBA Director of Food Communications Marlys Bielunski. "We`re proud to be able to work with top-notch people like Linda as we publicize convenient beef products throughout the country."
-- NCBA --