Bull Advertisements

[Ryan]

Just a lil survey...

Hypothetically: You are thumbing through your favorite cattle magazine... Its getting bout that time of the year and you've been thinking/pondering "What bull should I use this year on the ladies?" ... What makes you stop and take notice of a certain bull or advertisement? I see advertisements for bulls in magazines a lot, but what makes you stop and get interested in a bull just from the advertisement in the magazine? What makes you see him there and come to the Cattle Today boards and post a "What do you think about So and So bull?" Are there certain details of/about the bull you look for, offspring, production record, bright colors, busy or simple?

Just trying to get some ideas or suggestions, our Herd Sire edition is coming up and I am trying to put together the ad.

Thanks for the help.

Ryan

 

[dun]

The first thing I look for is that he's a beef bull. Next would be his pedigree, a picture of him then his offpsring, then his complete EPDs with accuracys, then any other pertinent information, i.e., ratios for BW, WW, actual mature weight and FS. If he passes muster on those traits then I start looking further.

 

[MikeC]

A good picture is your foremost concern.

Keep it simple. Most folks won't read a bunch of what they feel is unecessary scribble.

Some performance info, a really good picture, and catchy colors in an ad will do you best.

Use the K.I.S.S. method.

Oh, and did I mention a REALLY GOOD picture? ;-)

 

[randiliana]

The picture is the first thing. It is what will catch my eye, I am not going to more than glance at an ad with a poorly taken photo, or poorly posed animal, especially if it is very difficult to tell what the animal actually looks like from the photo. I like to see more than one pic, especially if it is an ad for only 1 or 2 animals. Next, I am going to look at the numbers. I want to see EPD's, and ones that indicate good performance. I also want to see "actual" numbers, BW and WW plus a frame score wouldn't hurt. Lastly I will look at pedigree, which doesn't really mean much to me, but there are some names I like to see and some I don't.

 

[randiliana]

And I forgot to add, as a commercial producer, if I am looking for a bull to use AI, and he is a mature bull I like seeing pictures of the bull out on pasture, not the show pictures!! Or if not out on pasture, at least a recent picture of him!!

 

[SF]

Forget the picture, welllll maybe not completely forget, but put it lower on the totem pole of your decision making. Any good advertisement is going to have a super photo. The advertisers are not idiots. They are going to have a photo that is going to be very complimentary of the the bull. If you are going to make your purchase off of an advertisement, then you will need to base it upon pedigree and epd's. Not necessarily in that order. Now look at the picture. Make sure there are 4 legs, 1 tail, 1 head, 2 eyes, 2 nostrils coming from one nose, etc.....

The most important thing to me is:
1. Who is selling this semen? Are they reputable? Can I believe what they say?
2. Who is the breeder of this bull? Who is the owner? Can I believe or trust the performance data?
3. Do I know anyone who has used this bull?

JMO

 

[purecountry]

For me, it's a picture. If he looks good, I'll keep looking. Pictures of progeny certainly help, I like to see them and the dam/sire pics, too. I have no use for EPD's, so the next things for me is hip height, mature weight, and pedigree.

I like ads kept simple, too. Some of the Angus ones I see in Canada are all prettied up with airbrushed crap all across the ad, or swirling around the pics. I say keep it clear with easy to read fonts.

 

[jcarkie]

i look at ads that have good pictures of actual animals in the sale. then i am more likly to request a catalog. i pass right by showring pictures, i do not show cattle so they don't interest me, i raise commercial cattle. of course what breed matters too.

 

[Ned Jr.]

Use the K.I.S.S. method.

What is the K.I.S.S. method?

I agree the pictures are most important in a bull ad. A bad picture can do more harm than good.

 

[MikeC]

Use the K.I.S.S. method.

What is the K.I.S.S. method?

I agree the pictures are most important in a bull ad. A bad picture can do more harm than good.

Just meant to keep the ad simple. Not too much text for someone to read will kill an ad every time.

Keep It Simple Stupid ;-)

 

[Ned Jr.]

Use the K.I.S.S. method.

What is the K.I.S.S. method?

I agree the pictures are most important in a bull ad. A bad picture can do more harm than good.

Just meant to keep the ad simple. Not too much text for someone to read will kill an ad every time.

Keep It Simple Stupid ;-)

OK, I see and I agree :nod:

Just don't call me stupid no more. ;-)

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Picture #1 (great pic) - catchie phrase - "Money Maker" or something like that.
BREED
Performance -B.Date BW WW YW Mature Wt - height
EPD's and any carcass data you might have
Small pic of dam and/or offspring
ALWAYS, use same farm logo/color pattern. You need to establish a "look" that everyone will recognize, if you are trying to establish a reputation.
Did I mention BREED?? it is always frustrating to see ads that they ASSUME you know what breed it is, unless you are advertising in a breed publication.

 

[dun]

Did I mention BREED?? it is always frustrating to see ads that they ASSUME you know what breed it is, unless you are advertising in a breed publication.

That bugs me too. I see adds in general cattle pubs touting a sale and they show a picture of a black something. Never mention anything to give you a hint as to breed unless you happen to know the farm name is associated with a particular breed. All I know for sure is that htey aren;t Herefords or Red Angus.

dun

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Yes, even if your ad shows pedigrees - which most within your breed would recognize - you need to have it identified for possible new breeders or someone looking to crossbreed.

 

[SEC]

So if a good picture is so important then why are there so many people using bulls that look horrible, not masculine, flat sided and bad back legs. 9/10 if they aren't standing right on their back legs it's for a reason......THEY CAN'T!

I would call BS on a lot of people as bulls like, 1407, 036, 2V1, Objective have sold a lot of semen.

I would say EPD's in the end unfortunately would be the drawing card. This would be a tie with people thinking that this might be the most popular bull very soon, I have a chance to be on the cutting edge of marketing the first progeny.

 

[Frankie]

I pay very little attention to a picture, more attention to EPDs and pedigrees. And not all pictures are good. I have known some people who were not happy with the photos of their bull that the bull stud companies were using. But we generally wait until a bull's EPD accuracies have gone up and some sons have gone through a performance test station. It's been harder to do that the last few years, so we are using some less proven bulls. We talk to breeders and see which bulls they're happy with. We go to bull sales and see what buyers are looking for.

And, honestly, I don't look much at ads for bulls other than Angus. We do go to other breed bull sales, though. That's always a learning experience.

 

[Schnurrbart]

Use the K.I.S.S. method.

What is the K.I.S.S. method?

I agree the pictures are most important in a bull ad. A bad picture can do more harm than good.

Just meant to keep the ad simple. Not too much text for someone to read will kill an ad every time.

Keep It Simple Stupid ;-)

OK, I see and I agree :nod:

Another good idea is the 6 P principle.

Just don't call me stupid no more. ;-)

 

[Schnurrbart]

Use the K.I.S.S. method.

What is the K.I.S.S. method?

I agree the pictures are most important in a bull ad. A bad picture can do more harm than good.

Just meant to keep the ad simple. Not too much text for someone to read will kill an ad every time.

Keep It Simple Stupid ;-)

OK, I see and I agree :nod:

Another good idea is the 6 P principle.

Just don't call me stupid no more. ;-)

Kinda got that in the wrong place, but it is the 6 P principle.

 

[1848]

So if a good picture is so important then why are there so many people using bulls that look horrible, not masculine, flat sided and bad back legs. 9/10 if they aren't standing right on their back legs it's for a reason......THEY CAN'T!

I would call BS on a lot of people as bulls like, 1407, 036, 2V1, Objective have sold a lot of semen.

I would say EPD's in the end unfortunately would be the drawing card. This would be a tie with people thinking that this might be the most popular bull very soon, I have a chance to be on the cutting edge of marketing the first progeny.

I would think that #1 they don't have that photographic eye, and/or have no concept on what makes a good ad. #2 they don't worry so much about the picture because as their reputation, the performance of their bulls, and their genetic lines speak for themselves. #3 they are not out to sell show stock or "pretty". Remember a picture can tell allot. but it can also hide allot too! ;-) I have seen some terrible pictures, then have later seen the animal in person to be very impressive. I have also seen it the other way around too.

When I look at ads I tend to look at the age and blood line of the bull first. Anybody can raise a fancy looking bull! If a bull has been around for a while there is a reason for it. I don't like to chase fads, the next best set of EPD's, of the national champion. If I like what I see in his genetic line I will look at him closer, evaluate the validity of his EPD's, see how he is being managed (pasture environment vs coddled), and then look into how his offspring and his daughters that are in production are performing. I will always take the breeder and the owner into consideration too.

That's not to say I won't look at younger bulls which have blood lines I have confidence in. I will follow them if I feel they have some merit and see what they do for a couple of years. Probably why I am always behind the curve on market sellability... ;-) .

 

[DOC HARRIS]

A lot of my answer will be repetition of what has been said in the previous posts, but I guess that is because we all possess the same basic "Opposition to Sales Approaches."

The FIRST IMPRESSION of Anything, or Anyone, is the most important, because you don't get a second chance at a First Impression!

Regardless of the subject matter in an ad, the "LOGO" of the Business, along with pleasing color combinations, subliminally captures a person's interest - AND - holds their attention. The bull(s) picture within the ad itself will hold my attention rather than an excessive amount of printed word which will require more than ONE MINUTE to read and understand. In other words, give as much information as possible - Pedigree, EPD's, picture of the bull, and a BRIEF bit of his phenotype and genotype attrbutes - with as few words as possible!

DOC HARRIS