Contact:            Polly Ruhland                           303/850-3394     pruhland@beef.org

Diane Henderson                      303-850-3465     dhenderson@beefboard.org 

BEEF CHECKOFF RESEARCH LAYS FOUNDATION

FOR PROMOTION, INFORMATION PROGRAMS 

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (January 10, 2006) – It isn’t as sexy as a beef ad that sizzles, but the market research that helps determine the success of that ad is just as important to beef producers.

Along with research in human nutrition, food safety and product enhancement, market research is one of the research areas funded by the Beef Checkoff Program administered by the Cattlemen’s Beef Board.  Market research projects are part of the effort to build beef demand and are managed and coordinated on behalf of the Beef Board and state beef councils by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA). 

“Market research is the basis for program decisions and messages we need to be focused on with the beef checkoff,” according to Monte Reese, Beef Board chief operating officer.  “And we’re blessed to have some of the best people in the business working on these challenges.” 

According to Rick Husted, NCBA executive director of market research, this research provides the “voice of the market” when it comes to decisions made by checkoff program managers.  By providing that voice, he says, promotion and information program managers are more effective in reaching the right audiences with the right messages at the right time. 

Based on Committee Direction

After joint promotion and information checkoff committees have identified areas of opportunity and made recommendations, the research helps in the hands-on execution of strategies for checkoff-funded programs.  The initial market research effort of any campaign can be crucial to a strategy’s ultimate success, Husted says. 

According to Husted, “We find out what program managers are trying to accomplish and then go about providing them with the information they’ll need to meet those objectives.”  None of this research is conducted for the sake of research, he says; it must clearly support a program or initiative to be of any value.  

 “We need to make sure managers have a good understanding of the market before making program decisions,” Husted says.  “And to do that, we need to focus on what’s most important from a knowledge standpoint.” 

Husted points to beef promotion and advertising as a program area that benefits from market research.  “We might start by talking to consumers to find out what it is about beef that they particularly like and to understand any concerns they might have,” he says.  While the checkoff purchases several syndicated studies that provide insight into how often people eat beef, “it’s conversations like these that help us understand how people really feel about our product so the team can develop better messages about beef.” 

Focus groups and other forms of “qualitative” research can help provide the types of insights managers need, he adds.  Combining extensive information from syndicated studies with more focused research, different advertising treatments can be created and tested with the appropriate target audiences, helping determine which might be the most effective.   

Research can also help measure effectiveness of the advertising, Husted says.  After campaigns have run, a series of measures provide valuable insight into things like advertising awareness, recall and overall effectiveness. 

“We go full circle with market research,” he adds.  “Depending on what a program needs to be successful we can support just about any effort, from up-front development to post-program assessment.  We can also gain competitive insight by measuring how other proteins perform on similar attributes.” 

The Beef Board’s Reese says there’s another key benefit to conducting market research: It helps beef producers who volunteer on committees debating where checkoff money should be spent pinpoint areas that have the most impact.  He points to market research confirming the importance of youth education as a good example. 

“This research awakened (industry) leaders to the need to address the youth market,” Reese says.  “It told us that we need to begin now to communicate with the markets of the future.” 

Many Program Areas Involved

In addition to consumer advertising and youth education, checkoff program areas that utilize market research include foodservice (restaurant operators and others in the away-from-home category), retail, nutrition and new product development – which has enjoyed many benefits from market research, according to Reese.  Identifying and analyzing advantages seized by competitors is one way the research can be used. 

“Chicken has made many inroads in convenience and quick food with products like chicken nuggets,” he says.  “We haven’t yet found the key to overcoming that advantage, but we will.” 

According to Husted, even areas with fewer resources understand the value of capturing consumer insights.  The checkoff-funded veal program, for example, has been able to leverage checkoff funds effectively to provide insights into how consumers interact with their product. 

“Even though large-scale market research projects aren’t always an option for the veal program, relatively small budgets can still add considerable value,” Husted says.  “It may not answer every question, but it can certainly provide good direction” for veal checkoff program leaders. 

However deep the research goes, Husted says, if designed and executed properly it should always be viewed as a worthwhile use of resources.  “Market research is a relatively small investment when you consider what’s at stake,” he says.  “Every program should consider the value of using sound, fact-based research to support decisions.” 

User-Friendly Facts

Getting information into the hands of everyone who will find value from it is important.  That’s why the chairs and vice chairs of the various joint beef checkoff committees get together twice a year to evaluate recommendations for market research designed to support upcoming initiatives.   This market research working group meets to discuss how research may impact their specific program areas.   

Market research results are also shared with state beef councils, which use it to help support in-state programs as well as coordinated programs with the Federation of State Beef Councils Division at NCBA.  In addition, the information is often packaged and shared at state meetings and other venues with audiences that might include beef producers, who pay the $1-per-head checkoff assessment, or marketers who might use the information to help sell more beef. 

Dr. Bo Reagan, vice president of research and knowledge management at NCBA, says market research is “one of four legs of the research stool” on which other checkoff-funded programs sit. The other research legs are nutrition, safety and product.  These programs are helping define change for the future of the beef industry, he says. 

“What we do in these research programs helps lead the change that’s talking place, rather than just react to it,” says Reagan.  “Market research is a great example of how factual information can be used to set the stage for many demand-building efforts conducted on behalf of beef producers.”   

The Bottom Line

“Interpreting consumer behavior and attitudes is only the beginning,” according to Husted.  “The end game is to make sure that decisions made on behalf of beef producers are based on fact and, most important, positively influence beef demand.” 

Reese agrees.  “Obviously, the key to building demand for beef is persuading consumers to choose beef,” he says.  “But the first step is to understand what is driving that meal choice.  Market research is the underpinning of both the strategies of what we do and the tactics on how we do it.”

_________________________