Enjoyment to be Focus of Aggressive 2003 Beef Advertising Program

Consumers experience pure enjoyment when they eat beef.  That’s the premise behind a new $13.4 million checkoff-funded advertising program featuring television and print advertising beginning in January.  The target audience for the effort will be adults ages 25-54.

This campaign is part of a larger consumer promotion program, and is being coordinated for the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and state beef councils by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA).

The advertising will capitalize on the equity built over the years through well-recognized elements of the industry’s checkoff-funded advertising campaigns: Actor Sam Elliott’s voice, the “Beef. It’s What’s For DinnerÒ” theme and the “Rodeo” music by Aaron Copland.

“Consumers have come to recognize and look forward to the sounds and themes surrounding our beef advertising,” said Linda Joy Stovall, a beef producer from El Campo, Tex., and chair of the industry’s Joint Advertising Committee.  “These new ads fuel the passion people have for our product, using these tried-and-true components to boost their effectiveness.”

Over the course of the 2003 campaign, more than 92 percent of adults in the target audience will be reached an average of 13 times.  On average, the advertising will reach consumers for less than a penny a person. 

The campaign kicks off in January with a 4-week flight of ads, followed by a 3-4 week flight in March and another in May.  Network television will carry the ads on programs such as “Judging Amy,” “Touched by an Angel,” “The Guardian” and “West Wing.”  Cable stations such as the Food Channel and Lifetime also will feature the advertising, as will syndicated programs like “Home Improvement” and “Everybody Loves Raymond.”

Television and print advertising is being developed and placed in a complementary and coordinated manner.  Stovall said while the television advertising will create the anticipation for enjoying beef, print advertising will produce the payoff for beef producers, motivating consumers to eat beef more often. 

Print ads will appear in magazines such as Sports Illustrated, Better Homes and Gardens, Family Circle, People, TV Guide, Bon Appetit, Parenting and others.  Readers of the magazine ads also will be referred to a new Web site especially for consumers, www.beefitswhatsfordinner.com, for special recipes and information about beef.