NCBA marketing question

[pwilli3]

In my real life I am a chef. Ranching is a dream and I am just gathering all the knowledge about it I can at this point. As a chef I work in a top-tier steak house. One of the things the NCBA does with us is to try to get us to put new "lesser" cuts of beef on the menu. I use "lesser" because they are the newer cuts they are trying to promote to bring better value out of a harvested carcass. They are usually pretty decent cuts that I would actually like to use like Terres Major (petite tender, shoulder tender), flat iron, or their new favorite the "delmonico".

The problem is I believe they are attacking the marketing problem all wrong. Restaurants have tried, and continue to try, to put these cuts on the menu because they are a great value from our perspective. The problem is our consumers shy away from them because they do not know what they are. Then we end up grinding them or throwing them out because they don't sell. Every time we do a dinner for the NCBA or the state beef council they want us to use the stuff, and we do, and the guests rave about it. The problem is, the only reason they are trying it is because they spent half the day being told how great it is on a tour of some sort, and then are eating it on someone else's dime.

I would love to use these cuts because it would be a win/win/win/win situation all the way from the producer, to the packer, to the restaurant, to the consumer. I just think they are going about it a bit backward. Producers are sold on it. Packers are sold on it. Restaurants are nearly sold on it. The consumer still has little or no idea what it is.

I think the NCBA needs to spend its marketing dollar on wooing food writers instead of chefs. They need to spend there advertising dollars less on the check-off program, and more on print and television ads to reach the consumer and let them know what these cuts are all about. Let Matther McCounaghey (sp?) talk about how great it is to eat a nice lean terres major that is the second most tender muscle on a cow instead of just talking enticingly of beef in general. The more we, on all the other ends of the market, can get the consumer to embrace these value cuts (which are generally lean and fit into the modern diet well and have better health benefits than chicken or pork) the more dollars can be brought from each harvested animal. The more each of these muscles is treated as a steak, and not just one more thing to grind, the more money can be demanded for a carcass and then, therefore, for an animal ready for harvest. To achieve this goal their needs to be more focus on the end user, not the middle men and originators.

Just my thought. What do you all think?

 

[Oldtimer]

Sounds good to me- but from my past experience with NCBA nobody can tell them anything... They only do what their Packer handlers tell them anymore...One of the reasons we need to get the Beef Checkoff (tax) out of their control...Maybe with a change of regime in D.C., that will be possible...

 

[ga. prime]

I think you make a lot of sense pwilli. Sounds like an excellent strategy. NCBA decision makers should all get a copy of your post.

 

[Phil in Tupelo]

pw,

Those thoughts do have merit. One issue is the NCBA only receives 50 cents of each CheckOff dollar. The other half goes to the individual state or livestock enitity that controls the funds on each state level. I have supported the CheckOff from the beginning and still do. That doesn't mean that I think everything that's been done is totally correct but I think over the years the CheckOff has made a positive impact with the consumer, who in the end is the one that decides on pork, chicken, fish, beef or heaven forbid, tofu! I encourage you to send this e-mail to NCBA. If you are an NCBA member you should have some contact info and if not, you still should be able to find a consumer type address. In fact, the Cattle Today site likely has the contact info somewhere on their website.

Phil in Tupelo

 

[houstoncutter]

Whooooooaaa.....now you folks cant be tellen the folks at NCBA that they aint got no clothes on......them folks knows all..........I know that i travel qiute a bit at times from small towns to the big cities.....On the highways in middle America you see signs about eating beef and website addresses to find out more, also radio spots .......In the big cities where the dollar and message could reach a much larger group of consumers, you find squat, nothin....Thats your beef checkoff dollars at work for you. I for one would like to keep the money in my pocket.

 

[ga. prime]

Plenty more that checkoff dollars do besides advertise what's for dinner. Lobby for laws favorable to cattle producers, open foreign trade, keep beef in federally funded food programs, oppose PETA, etc. I would not be opposed to the checkoff being $2.

 

[Phil in Tupelo]

houstoncutter,

I can't say that I have seen many billboards. Most of the areas I drive are mostly rural to medium urban. I receive mostly cattle and farm magizines at home and see the ads that give the CheckOff stats, however, when I am in various waiting rooms/areas such as found in doctors offices etc, I see magazines related to womens issues or food magazines and I see very good ads in these mags that put beef in a positive light. I also see Peta's ads which of course doesn't do anything for me. Peta seems to have way more money than all the ag sector put together.

ga prime,

It is true that the costs of advertising have gone up and the dollars the CheckOff receives do not go as far as in the past, just like everything else. If a vote for an additional dollar was held, I would likely vote for it also.

Phil in Tupelo

 

[ga. prime]

peta has an $800 million checking account devoted to discrediting and destroying animal agriculture. Way, way richer than NCBA.

 

[S&S Farms]

I personally love the flat iron cut glad my butcher will cut it for me. I understand what you are saying but would have you or I ever have discovered the flat iron I know I would not have. If I came to your restraunt and said I found a new cut, cook it for me you would just roll your eyes and ask me to leave.

Were you the head chef at that meeting?

The beef checkoff helped with the funding to find that one. I also know that Kansas sends alot of money to higher populated places to help with advertising.


Just watch if this new hurricane is a big disaster then HSUS will be seeking donations to "help" animals when they have never saved one yet. They will fool people to donate to there cause when you should help out local shelters.

Jeff

 

[pwilli3]

Good point Ga. Prime. My point is that if the NCBA were to use their marketing dollars, our marketing, dollars more effectively, we could gain more profit from the animals produced and increase the demand. If this were to happen there would be more dollars available in those same accounts. Effective marketing is a tool that pays for itself at least five fold. I think checkoff dollars have done great things. I just believe a slight shift in focus of the materials already in play could continue to build on the positive results already gained.

 

[dun]

I personally love the flat iron cut glad my butcher will cut it for me. I understand what you are saying but would have you or I ever have discovered the flat iron I know I would not have. If I came to your restraunt and said I found a new cut, cook it for me you would just roll your eyes and ask me to leave.

Were you the head chef at that meeting?

The beef checkoff helped with the funding to find that one. I also know that Kansas sends alot of money to higher populated places to help with advertising.


Just watch if this new hurricane is a big disaster then HSUS will be seeking donations to "help" animals when they have never saved one yet. They will fool people to donate to there cause when you should help out local shelters.

Jeff

30 plus years ago we ate what were called clod steaks, i.e. steaks cut from the clod Top of the shuolder), they never caught on it seems. Now they call the same thing a flatiron steak and people are nuts about them. Timing and a fancy name is everything I guess.

 

[pwilli3]

I personally love the flat iron cut glad my butcher will cut it for me. I understand what you are saying but would have you or I ever have discovered the flat iron I know I would not have. If I came to your restraunt and said I found a new cut, cook it for me you would just roll your eyes and ask me to leave.

Were you the head chef at that meeting?

The beef checkoff helped with the funding to find that one. I also know that Kansas sends alot of money to higher populated places to help with advertising.

Jeff

Jeff, my argument is not on the merit of the cuts. I think they have done a great job of finding value added beef cuts. I also firmly believe they are correct in their thinking that a brighter future for all involved in cattle lay in consumers finding and desiring those cuts. My only problem with what they are doing is that they are marketing these cuts to the wrong part of the consumer chain. They need to target the end user. I want it to be that no steak restaurant in its right mind would leave cuts such as these off their menus. I want your butcher to have a display case full of the cuts rather than him cutting it just for you and a select few who know its merits. The only way to have this happen is to bump up consumer demand.

Just three months ago I took a beef industry tour in Kansas sponsored by the Kansas Beef Council. We attended lectures and demonstrations at Kansas State University, home of the fighting Wildcats and PURPLE PRIDE! (my alma mater in case you can't guess). We then toured cow/calf operations and feed lots. This tour was amazing and eye opening. We had a two hour demonstration on butchering to harvest these value added cuts given by a chef from the NCBA. The hosts, the knowledge gained, the experience was fantastic. It was a tour designed for chefs. I want to know, for the benefit of everyone in cattle, that they are targeting more than chefs and restauranteurs. In this game we are just middle men. They need to set up tours like this for respected food journalists who will have greater impact than us as they write of the fantastic health benefits, tastes, and textures found in the value added cuts.

In addition to doing this I mentioned having Matthew McCounaghy (still unsure of the spelling there, sorry) talk about the benefits mentioned above in the beef radio and TV advertising instead of just talking in general about the aromas of cooking beef in such an enticing way. They could use dollars already being spent and advance the new products. Everyone who eats beef knows how great a ribeye is or a KC strip. They will still crave these cuts and not forget about them. How about getting them to buy a great steak such as one of the new value added cuts so they might find a price point middleground between ribeye and hamburger. Encourage the consumer to realize they can have a ribeye on Sunday because it is special, but they don't have to eat chicken all week to afford it.

 

[houstoncutter]

Plenty more that checkoff dollars do besides advertise what's for dinner. Lobby for laws favorable to cattle producers, open foreign trade, keep beef in federally funded food programs, oppose PETA, etc. I would not be opposed to the checkoff being $2.

Not a problem, I should market about a 130 calves and 40 cows here soon.........So just send me that check and you can pay 2 dollars a head

 

[dun]

If you avoid walmarts meat section, the only 2 meat counters I've been around in the past couple of years have had glozzy recipe/cooking guides for various of the newer cuts. Seems like that is getting the information to the right person.

 

[pwilli3]

If you avoid walmarts meat section, the only 2 meat counters I've been around in the past couple of years have had glozzy recipe/cooking guides for various of the newer cuts.  Seems like that is getting the information to the right person.

Wouldn't you prefer something more than a counter at the butcher?  Why not the same glozzy photos and recipes at the Wal-Mart?  What about something in those photos and recipes telling you the difference between a 1/2 # of beef sold to you truly by cut, and a 1/2# sold to you in the manufactured style?  In my experience, mothers will actually stop and read that info, while fathers will throw whatever is the least cost in the cart.  Mothers also tend to do the most shopping.I still truly believe the NCBA can spend their/your marketing dollar more wisely.

 

[dun]

If you avoid walmarts meat section, the only 2 meat counters I've been around in the past couple of years have had glozzy recipe/cooking guides for various of the newer cuts.  Seems like that is getting the information to the right person.

Wouldn't you prefer something more than a counter at the butcher?  Why not the same glozzy photos and recipes at the Wal-Mart?  What about something in those photos and recipes telling you the difference between a 1/2 # of beef sold to you truly by cut, and a 1/2# sold to you in the manufactured style?  In my experience, mothers will actually stop and read that info, while fathers will throw whatever is the least cost in the cart.  Mothers also tend to do the most shopping.I still truly believe the NCBA can spend their/your marketing dollar more wisely.

Walmart doesn;t really count as a meat source. Granted they have volume but the majority of the buyers aren;t all that selective. Our local walmart does have some kind of propaganda available but I think it's for their house brand crap.

 

[GANGGREEN]

You guys all know the little plastic, stand up thingies on your table at Pizza Hut or Applebees? Why not have a nice color brochure of the "newer" cuts in there or actually inside the menu. People are remarkably visually stimulated when they're hungry. If they see a cut of steak that looks delicious and a table side brochure explains the benefits of said cut, I believe most diners would be willing to try something new.

 

[Brandonm22]

Whooooooaaa.....now you folks cant be tellen the folks at NCBA that they aint got no clothes on......them folks knows all..........I know that i travel qiute a bit at times from small towns to the big cities.....On the highways in middle America you see signs about eating beef and website addresses to find out more, also radio spots .......In the big cities where the dollar and message could reach a much larger group of consumers, you find squat, nothin....Thats your beef checkoff dollars at work for you. I for one would like to keep the money in my pocket.

It is about dollars and cents. A billboard company will give you a deal on a billboard in Iowa, Kansas, rural Indiana, etc. Now if you want a billboard in Times Square it will cost a small fortune. Dittoe with a radio spot. I hear them on stations in Birmingham, AL occasionally. A spot on a top FM station in NYCity or Atlanta is going too cost considerably more. NCBA has limited dollars to spend. They can blow $3 million on a single Super Bowl spot or they can throw the money at magazine ads. I actually am leaning towards bumping the checkoff to $2 or THREE DOLLARS!!!

 

[pwilli3]

Well...I know it was not this post having any impact or anything, but it seems they got the idea. I just heard a new commercial tonight with old Matt McC talking about the benefits of lean beef and mentioning some of the leaner cuts. I know the commercial was taped weeks ago. They never read this. It makes me happy to hear they found the right direction though.

Thank you all for posting here. It has been a great discussion!

 

[S&S Farms]

They also do target women and run adds in magazines that women purchase. As a producwer that sells butcher beef to people. I suggest that they try the new cuts that are out there. I also probably dont go to a high end restraunt but i seldom eat beef when I dine out. I like the way I cook steak and I like the price much better at home.

I have hears theat add acouple of days ago. I like the message and the spokesman.


Jeff