2005 Beef Advertising Aims to Keep Beef Demand Rising

DENVER (Feb. 8, 2005) — America’s Beef Producers are coming out of the gate in 2005 with an advertising strategy that continues last year’s award-winning campaign, designed to reinforce consumers’ positive attitudes and help keep beef demand on the rise.

In 2005, advertising will include five new print ads that will continue to fuel the passion consumers have for beef. These ads will run 106 times this year in 27 magazines like Better Homes and Gardens, Country Home, Gourmet, Parents, and Sports Illustrated. They began in January and will run through June.  Additionally, nearly $2.5 million worth of free consumer programs were negotiated with the magazines, further extending the beef message.

Four two-week flites of national radio ads will run during the same time period, adding still another dimension to the plan. The checkoff radio spots will run 125 times each week across the country on programming such as Fox Sports, Country Gold and The Top 20.

This national print and radio plan will reach 94 percent of adults ages 25-54, 16 times in 2005.

Beef advertising programs are funded by America’s Beef Producers through the $1-per-head beef checkoff program. They are coordinated on behalf of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and state beef councils by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, which serves as one of the Beef Board’s contractors for checkoff-funded programs.

“The ‘Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner’® advertising won a series of awards in 2004,” said Jennifer Houston, a beef producer from Sweetwater, Tenn., and chair of the industry’s Joint Advertising Committee. “While the awards aren’t the purpose of creating these ad campaigns, it is exciting that their value is recognized by professionals in the agriculture and advertising communities.”

“Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner” won a Gold Effie, which is the most significant award in the advertising industry and honors advertising results; other 2004 Gold Effie winners include Levi Strauss, Volkswagen, Apple and MasterCard.

The beef campaign also won a Corporate Marketing Campaign Award from the International Association of Culinary Professionals, which recognizes the most innovative, creative and successful marketing campaign.  Additionally, the campaign won a Best of Show award from Region Two of the National Agriculture Marketing Association honoring the best work in agriculture communications.

Research shows that 82 percent of consumers are aware of beef advertising. Many consider the campaign a major catalyst through which Beef Checkoff Program dollars have driven consumer demand for beef to record levels.

In addition to the “enjoyment” campaign, nutrition ads will run 40 times this year in 18 magazines like Cooking Light; Fitness, Health, Prevention; and Men’s Health in January, March and May. Sixty-three percent of health-conscious consumers will see these checkoff ads an average of 3.7 times this year.

Tracking results after last year’s campaign showed significant differences in consumers’ attitudes about beef’s nutritional qualities once they have seen the ads. For example, 58 percent of consumers who have seen the ads say beef is “more nutritious than other types of meat” vs. only 35 percent who did not see the ads – a 23 point difference.

An additional $800,000 of added value programs obtained from the magazines will stretch checkoff dollars even further and expose many more consumers to this important beef message about nutrition.

Planning is also underway to boost retail activity during this year’s summer grilling promotion, which will run from May through Labor Day. In 2004, checkoff radio spots ran in 45 major markets, representing 53 percent of the U.S. The radio is a key component of extensive retail efforts during summer months intended to positively influence consumer demand when beef supplies are highest.

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The Beef Checkoff Program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. States retain up to 50 cents on the dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval. The checkoff assessment became mandatory when the program was approved by 79 percent of producers in a 1988 national referendum vote. Checkoff revenues may be used for promotion, education and research programs to improve the marketing climate for beef.

Producer-directed and consumer-focused, the NCBA is a trade association of America’s cattle farmers and ranchers, and the marketing organization for the largest segment of the nation’s food and fiber industry.