Retail, Farmers, and Marketing

During our family movie night yesterday I saw a commercial for Dominos Pizza called Behind the Pizza. Here is an article from Associated Press with an overview of the approach Dominos is taking with this new marketing program.Image via Wikipedia

From the AP article:

A marketing campaign premiering Wednesday night will highlight the ingredients by showing customers in a focus group in what they think is an office. Its walls come down and they realize they're on a dairy farm, complete with cow and a farmer in Blanchardville, Wis.

As you can see, Dominos is continuing it's marketing messaging that, yes their pizza needed improvement and this is what we are doing to improve it.

What interests me the most is the fact that Dominos is involving the farmers supplying the ingredients. In my mind this is a key differentiator from other programs that just talk about where (read this as geography) their particular ingredients come from. I support educational marketing programs that adds some bit of transparency in the process, but nothing is better than consumers interfacing and learning from the actual producer; nothing!

Since this is relatively new and the actual site and program elements are in their infancy, it is still to early to determine how Dominos intends to create this bridge between consumers and farmers, but I will be watching this play out. And it is only a first step, albeit an excellent one if farmers are fully involved.

So go for it Dominos. Involve your suppliers (farmers) as you continue to implement this program. We, as consumers need, scratch that, have an unmitigated right to know who is producing our food.

I look forward to hearing more from farmers as they share their farming story.

So dear readers, what do you think of this approach? Do you think Dominos will continue to put the farmer(s) front and center in this campaign? Do you have any suggestions and ideas?

Farmers are Talking. Are You Listening?

Where do you go to find information when you want to learn more about a particular subject? Do you "Google" it? Read publications and blogs? Ask your network? Maybe all of the above, and more?    

I certainly look at multiple sources, but I have found the best way to educate yourself is by going to the source. So if I wanted to find out about agriculture, I look to farmers. After all, farmers are the folks that apply the technology and science in the real world every day. They must make the decision on what crop to plant, equipment to use, technology to adopt, agronomic practice to utilize, and process to adapt. And then evaluate the efficacy of the choices they made from a tactical and strategic perspective to ensure the long term viability of the business.

Given that most people do not have immediate access to farmers (I am extremely fortunate that I do!), a company, BASF, has created a place for the public to hear directly from farmers. It is called Top Plots, a Vlog series where farmers are sharing what has been beneficial to their business. Here is the latest release featuring Kip Cullers from Purdy, MO, the winner of the global soybean yield contest coming in at a whopping 160.6 bushels per acre! So listen in as Kip and other farmers share their journey with you.