Paulsen Marketing On the Road Blog

Six Paulsen Clients Win Awards at NAMA Region III Competition

greg.guse@paulsenmarketing.com (Greg Guse) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:25:48 CDT

Just back from the National Agri-Marketing Association’s annual Best of NAMA Region III awards ceremony held at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, January 26.

What an incredible night it was for Paulsen Marketing! Not only did we have six agency clients recognized with awards for their work, we also were the most awarded agency or company with 19 awards, including seven First Place Awards and 12 Merit Awards.

Paulsen clients who were recognized included Kubota Tractor Corporation, Torrance, Calif.; Wheat Growers, Aberdeen, S.D.; AgStar Financial Services, Mankato, Minn.; The Soil Science Society of America, Madison, Wis.; South Dakota Corn Utilization Council, Sioux Falls, S.D.; and South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion Council, Sioux Falls, S.D.

There were 235 entries in NAMA’s Region III competition that includes North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa. You can view the entire summary of all categories and winners at http://www.nama.org/amc/bon/reg3win.htm.

Our First Place and Merit Award entries will next be judged in the national Best of NAMA Competition with winners announced during the awards ceremony that kicks off the 2012 Agri-Marketing Conference, “Acres of Innovation,” April 18-20 in Kansas City.

Needless to say I’m incredibly proud of our clients, their award-winning work and our entire agency staff who continue to amaze me with their talent, creativity and determination to excel in this very competitive industry.

This is the fourth blog I’ve written about our Region III NAMA showing, and in each of the previous years’ entries, I have always been careful to put awards in the proper perspective—they are nice to win, but generating results for our clients’ investments in us is Priority #1. But, when your industry peers recognize the quality and creativity of your efforts, you can’t help but take a few brief moments and bask in the satisfaction of the moment.

I’m especially pleased to see how our digital work fared with five of the nine awards given in the Interactive Marketing category going to Paulsen. One of our agency initiatives over the past five years has been to grow and excel with our offerings in this critical and fast-growing area of marketing communications. If our recent NAMA wins are any indication, we are certainly making good progress toward this goal.

Okay, enough basking in the glow of awards achievement and back to reality!

A busy week lies ahead at the National Cattleman’s Beef Association’s annual convention in Nashville. Sara Steever, VP, digital services, and I will be assisting the folks at the Crystalyx^® and Sweetlix^® trade show exhibits introducing a new app for tablets and smartphones for Cow Body Condition Scoring we helped create with Dr. Dan Dhuyvetter, director of marketing at Ridley Nutrition Solutions.

If you’re at the NCBA trade show, stop by for a visit!

A Complete Surprise, A Tremendous Honor

greg.guse@paulsenmarketing.com (Greg Guse) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:14:57 CDT

I like surprises as much, or maybe even more, than anyone—although I admit I prefer being on the giving end rather than the receiving end.

Well, this weekend at the South Dakota Corn Growers/Corn Utilization Council’s Annual Meeting, our agency was on the receiving end of a huge surprise. Paulsen Marketing received the Corn Grower’s annual Excellence in Agriculture Award for our “exceptional leadership contributions to the agriculture industry.”

Every first weekend in January for the past 10-12 years, a group of Paulsenites attends this meeting as our way of showing support for a client we so enjoy working with. Besides, there’s an excellent meal, a great silent auction and exceptionally good entertainment that follows the keynote speech and award presentation.

This year Sara Steever, Mindy Dale, Janet Andersen, Clara Jacob and I represented the agency at this fun event. None of us had any idea whatsoever that Paulsen Marketing would be recognized with this prestigious award. All of us were absolutely dumbfounded when MC Jim Woster began describing the winner of this year’s Excellence in Agriculture Award.

You can imagine my horror when I was asked to say a few words to the more than 1,000 people in attendance. I was utterly unprepared, and all I could do was humbly thank the corn producers of South Dakota, and the Corn Council staff for the trust and confidence they place in us to tell their story on their behalf.

For the past several years we have worked closely with the Corn Council in developing and implementing a number of important communications programs to better tell the very interesting story South Dakota’s corn growers have to tell.

It’s been a broad range of online, media, public relations, educational and creative projects that we have produced in conjunction with our Corn Council clients, Lisa Richardson, executive director, and Teddi Mueller, communications director. View samples of this work in the video below.

Afterward, my wife told me I did a good job with my mini-extemporaneous speech, and she’s always a no-holds-barred, brutally frank critic, so I guess it went okay.

If there was ever a time I felt a need for a beer, this was it. So after the conclusion of the award presentation I ambled over to the open bar. While in line, I felt someone grab my shoulder and say, “Hey young fella.” (I so enjoy being called ‘young fella’ after yet another birthday last month.) The weathered hand on my shoulder belonged to an elderly member of the Corn Growers Association.

“We appreciate you guys telling our story,” he went on. “You’re doing a good job for us.” We visited briefly and then he returned to his table. I didn’t catch his name but I thought he said he farms near Warner, South Dakota, about 20 miles south of Aberdeen.

Now this year begins my 37th year in agricultural marketing and communications. And yes, I’m humbled to have received a number of awards and honors along the way, including the Advertising Best of Show Award at last year’s Region III Best of NAMA (National AgriMarketing Association) awards banquet in Des Moines (also for work Paulsen produced for the SD Corn Growers).

But in all honesty, I have to say that a farmer from Warner, South Dakota, telling me our agency is doing a good job in telling his story to the state and region is by far the best professional award I have ever received in my 36 years as a professional agri-marketer. And the Corn Growers’ Award of Excellence for our agency is a very close second as far as highlights in my career.

Special thanks goes to Teddi, Lisa, Katrina and the entire Corn Council staff for their faith in our agency. To the boards of directors of the SD Corn Growers Association and the SD Corn Utilization Council for their vision, determination and commitment.

And of course to the Corn Growers’ team here at Paulsen including Mindy Dale, Janet Andersen, Jon Marohl, Clara Jacob, Lee Larson, Katie Levitt, Mike Dowling and Sarah Wolfswinkel, as well as many others who have played a role in our Corn work.

One week ago I was wondering how 2012 is going to go. Well, I have to say it’s off to a great start, and it’s going to be hard to beat this first week of the year!

Mindy Dale, Janet Andersen, Greg Guse, Clara Jacob and Sara Steever.

Think About Soil Lately?

greg.guse@paulsenmarketing.com (Greg Guse) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 11:33:30 CDT

Guest blogging today is Kelli Betsinger, account executive.

Did you know that soil – yes, that ground beneath your feet – has a story to tell? In response to growing concerns about the condition of some of the world’s soils, we have been working with the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) and recently launched a campaign called, The Story of Soil.

The Story of Soil campaign features a series of three Public Service Announcements (PSAs) in English and Spanish to celebrate SSSA’s 75th Anniversary.

“Soil is a very complex ecosystem that supports life and is often associated with food production,” said SSSA President Charles Rice, Kansas State University. “However, with environmental news coverage revolving around concerns like climate change, water and air pollution, people often don’t give our soils a second thought.”

Through this campaign, we tell the story of soil—the impact of healthy soil on such things as healthy food, water quality and human health.

“We’ve created messages that go beyond the obvious realm of soil’s impact on agriculture,” added Rice. “Soil actually serves many purposes. It acts as a filter for our water. It contains microorganisms that are used to treat diseases. Soil really is critical to life.”

The campaign officially began in October and targets a younger audience. “We will keep our message simple and not get too scientific,” said Rice. “It’s important we get the word out to younger generations as they are the ones charged with protecting our environment for future generations.”

The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) is a progressive international scientific society that fosters the transfer of knowledge and practices to sustain global soils. Based in Madison, Wis., and founded in 1936, SSSA is the professional home for 6,000+ members dedicated to advancing the field of soil science. It provides information about soils in relation to crop production, environmental quality, ecosystem sustainability, bioremediation, waste management, recycling and wise land use. For more information, please visit www.soils.org.

We Are Thankful

greg.guse@paulsenmarketing.com (Greg Guse) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 07:44:38 CDT

Thanksgiving.

Time to take inventory again of all that has transpired this year, and give thanks for the many blessings that have come our way.

For a strong, healthy agricultural economy.

For clients who place their trust and confidence in us.

For media partners and vendors who support us throughout the year.

For hardworking and talented employees who give us their very best every day.

For the opportunities and possibilities that enable us to grow our agency.

Yes, it’s been a good year. And for that, we are indeed thankful.

From all of us at Paulsen Marketing, we wish for you and your family, a blessed and bountiful Thanksgiving.

Recent NAMA and NAFB Conferences Emphasize Ag's Global Impact

greg.guse@paulsenmarketing.com (Greg Guse) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 10:17:56 CDT

Several of us from Paulsen Marketing just returned from the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) fall “Trends in Agriculture” conference, followed by the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) annual convention, both in Kansas City last week.

As always, a great opportunity to re-connect with old friends (such as Al Johnson of Agri-Pulse, a faithful reader of this blog, I’m told) and other industry associates. I believe this was the 20th consecutive NAFB Trade Talk event that I’ve attended—probably the best example of media and agri-business working together that I can think of.

There was one theme that seemed to be consistently addressed by program speakers for both conferences, and that was today’s global impact of American agriculture. Several speakers referred to the seven billionth person on this planet, born Monday, October 31, according to those keeping track.

The point is, American agriculture will continue to be viewed as a world leader in feeding a rapidly growing world population, projected to reach nine billion by 2050. An interesting panel of both crop and livestock producers talked about their need to be even more productive and more efficient in their operations to meet this growing demand.

Another panel of ag industry experts discussed exports of agricultural products and their importance to our U.S. economy. All seem to agree that strong exports are fueling the current prosperity of the ag sector, and also giving an otherwise anemic domestic economy, reasons for hope.

My take-away from attending both conferences is this: The importance of agriculture has never been greater, both for meeting the food demands of a growing and hungry world population, and for helping a struggling U.S economy regain its vitality. Those of us involved in American agriculture should be proud of that.

I know I am.