Absorbing the wave.

Large-scale agricultural producers value radio most for daily agribusiness information, according to the 2008 National Producer Media-Use Wave Study, commissioned and sponsored by the National Association of Farm Broadcasting. This research, conducted using three "waves" each of 800 interviews in February, April, and September 2008, was released at the 2008 NAFB Annual Convention.

The study explored how producers with annual agricultural product sales of $100,000 or more use varied agri-media sources for business information. The results reinforced that radio and broadcast media, especially among producers age 49 and under, are highly valued and trusted.

Over the course of the past year, NAFB Marketing Consultant Mike Parry has been hard at work sharing the breakthrough data with marketers and agencies. Parry traveled to the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) and Commodity Classic conferences in 2009 to hear directly from producers how they receive their information and why they specifically like radio. He video recorded the conversations and added them to the research, putting names and faces to the data and statistics and creating a compelling presentation.

THANKS

Taking this presentation across the country, Parry says he "came away with comments like 'great data' or 'good to be able to take a look at all media at once.' Even skeptics, who questioned why a broadcast association would survey all media, took time to thank the NAFB for stepping forward with the first of its kind, total media use survey by the nation's producers and found the data to be informative."

On a trip to Bayer CropScience in Research Triangle Park, NC, Parry asked NAFB Broadcaster Andy Vance, ABN Radio. "Having a broadcaster like Andy with you really drives home to the marketer or agency the importance of the relationship that the broadcaster has with his or her listeners," Parry adds. Ag and rural listeners trust their farm broadcaster, enjoy listening to them for long periods of time while out in the fields or on the ranch, and count on them to bring them the most up to date news.

After the presentation of the Wave at Bayer CropScience, where Angle Skochdopole of AdFarm joined the meeting, Head of Marketing and Communications E.J. Coble-Penning gave Parry the following feedback:

"The Wave Study has been invaluable to me and the AdFarm media team in planning for Bayer CropScience. The research allows us to gauge reach on a geographic and demographic basis for multiple media. That data, combined with the AMR radio ratings, are important resources in our media planning efforts. Without the syndicated media research tools that had been available in previous years--like Starch--we really rely on solid, non-biased, studies such as this, as our base for media rationale and validation.

"I applaud the NAFB for doing this nationally projectable study, as it is the most current, reliable data that we have to compare media usage habits of our target audiences."

BENEFITS

Agencies and marketers aren't the only ones benefiting from the power of the NAFB Wave Study presentations. Many stops were also made at stations and networks across the country. Parry, who has a background in station management, has used his knowledge of the research results to help NAFB stations and networks design a sales piece they can use locally.

"It's not all about national business," Parry notes. "While that's important, it is equally important to generate local and regional advertising too. 44% of producers nationally can name their farm broadcaster--that number is even higher when you interview producers locally. The Wave Study is a key positioning chip in sales and marketing discussions." Parry has the broadcasting entities take a look at the data they have on their demographic themselves, and see how they can incorporate the Wave data.

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One of the stations visited was WJBC Radio in Bloomington, IL, with Sales Manager Karen Campbell and her sales staff. "It helps to have someone from outside of the market come in and talk to the group," Campbell says. She found the producer testimonial embedded in the presentation to be especially helpful. "They're not their grandpa's farmer anymore," Campbell points out. "There's so much good data in this study that smashes the stereotype that sales people and clients have about this industry," adding that farmers used to be up milking the cows at 4:30 a.m., now they are up checking the internet.

RESULTS

After losing the stereotypes, Campbell's staff went out and approached new prospects ... they recently had a jeweler sponsor their market report. "Before, that wouldn't have happened," Campbell says, "but producers eat, drink, buy groceries ... and have wives that like jewelry!"

Parry adds, "It seems to me, by the comments I've received over the course of the past year about the Wave Study, shows the ease in which one can use the data to plan not only for the present but also the future success of one's marketing plans."

For more information, go to: www.nafb.com.