Finding common ground through Shared Solutions[SM]: building beneficial relationships starts with careful listening. (Best of show: public relations).

Philip Morris is known as a tobacco company, but few people--including farmers--recognize the companies of Philip Morris as leading purchasers of agricultural products in the United States. Agricultural commodities are primary ingredients in every product produced by the Philip Morris family of companies and its well-known brands, such as Oscar Mayer, Post, Nabisco, Maxwell House, Marlboro and many others.

"Prior to 1998, the relationship between Philip Morris and the agricultural community could best be described as `buy-sell' which is, fundamentally, confrontational," says Jay Poole, vice president of agricultural policy and planning. Poole is a Virginia Tech alum with agricultural roots. He's also a 15-year veteran of the Fortune Top 10 global holding company that earlier this year changed its name from Philip Morris Companies Inc. to Altria Group Inc. Poole's position places him in charge of Altria's agricultural initiatives on a global basis.

(Note to reader: Prior to January 2003, Philip Morris Inc. was the parent company of Kraft Foods North America, Kraft Foods International, Philip Morris U.S.A. and Philip Morris International. In January, the name of the parent company was changed to Altria Group Inc. The names of the various operating companies remain unchanged. For clarity in this story, we will refer to the parent company as Altria. Shared Solutions is a service mark of Altria Corporate Services.)

"Philip Morris had long-standing programs directed to tobacco producers, but in '98 we took the first significant steps to strengthen relationships with U.S. farmers and ranchers beyond the tobacco-growing regions," adds Katherine Trent, director of agricultural relations. Trent manages Altria's ag program in the United States. "We made a proactive commitment to work with farmers on issues that affect both farmers and the company. It was a unique undertaking for Altria, but very consistent with new attitudes that were emerging among our corporate leaders for some time."

BENCHMARK RESEARCH SETS DIRECTION

Poole and Trent engaged Morgan&Myers, Jefferson, Wis., in 1997 to help bring their vision into focus. While several approaches were debated, the program really began to take shape when Linda Wenck, president of the firm's Milwaukee office and Altria account team leader, and Bob Giblin, the firm's director of research, hired Jefferson Davis Associates, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to conduct focus groups and quantitative research with the agricultural community.

"The initial benchmark research was both descriptive and prescriptive," Wenck says. It was used to define perceived needs of the agricultural community, identify criteria on which the company could build relationships, and evaluate current perceptions of Altria and other consumer products companies, says Wenck. Ultimately, the research established benchmarks used in planning. The quantitative research was repeated in 2001 to measure progress against the benchmarks set in 1998.

Using the research results as their guide, the Morgan&Myers/ Altria team developed a multi-year plan and formally launched its Shared Solutions agricultural relations program in early 1999. The primary overall goal was to build Altria's reputation and to strengthen relationships with agricultural producers in a way that would enable the ag-based consumer products company to work jointly with agricultural leaders on issues of mutual concern.

The research helped Altria identify six issues common and important to both Altria and farmers--economic sustainability, creation of demand, consumer education, food safety, free trade and the environment. The research also helped prescribe shared solutions--that is, ways Altria could work together with ag groups to effectively address those common problems.

TARGETING THOUGHT LEADERS

Poole, Trent and the Morgan&Myers team recognized that they could not address the total agricultural audience, let alone establish meaningful working relationships with farmers and ranchers of all stripes. From the outset, the primary target audience was agricultural leaders, defined as influential or politically minded farmers and ranchers who serve on national, state or regional agricultural or commodity boards. A secondary audience included industry influencers and active farmers, between 27 and 60 years old, meeting minimum requirements for the size of their operations.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES, SPECIFIC RESULTS

The initial two-year plan was founded upon four specific objectives. To track the results two years later, a computer-aided telephone survey of 1,000 farmers in eight crop and animal production segments--including 245 agricultural leaders--was conducted in 2001. The results demonstrated that the program met and exceeded its performance objectives and provided prescriptive data for the continuation of the program.

* After two years the number of farm leaders who recognized Altria as a leading ag-based consumer product company increased from 1 percent to 21 percent (unaided).

* The percentage of farm leaders who associated Altria with working with agriculture on shared issues increased from 1 percent to 8 percent (unaided).

* The percentage of farm leaders having a favorable opinion about Altria increased from 1 percent to 75 percent. Note that a minor wording change in the 2001 survey might explain the somewhat larger-than-expected improvement. Of the 22 percent of the farm leaders who were aware of the Shared Solutions program and could name Altria as the sponsor, 83 percent rated their opinion of Altria as "very" or "somewhat" positive. There were no negative responses.

* More than 150 producer-volunteers were enrolled to work with Altria on issues of shared interest.

THREE KEY STRATEGIES GIVE PROGRAM FOCUS

"The aim of building useful relationships with the agricultural community was very broad," says Judy Rupnow, counselor and program leader for Morgan&Myers. "While the objectives were very specific, there were still many program options we could pursue. We ultimately settled on three overarching program strategies that kept us flexible but on target."

Those three strategies: interdependence, relevance and engagement. (See accompanying graphic for a summary of how the three program strategies fit with the multiple tactics used in the program.)

"The `interdependence' strategy is central to the campaign," says Trent. "It underscores the fact that food producers and ag-based consumer product marketers are all part of the same value chain and that we are reliant on one another. It explains why Altria is engaging with farm leaders.

"The `relevancy' strategy identifies the issues we have in common with production agriculture," continues Trent. "There are some areas where Altria and farmers may not always agree, but consumer education, economic sustainability, free trade, food safety, and the environment are all issues we can work on together with a common purpose.

"The `engagement' strategy assures that our programs are mutually beneficial, open and honest," Trent concludes.

WILLINGNESS TO LISTEN

As the accompanying graphic shows, the Shared Solutions program has numerous elements united under the campaign umbrella, many of which are carried out in cooperation with the American Farm Bureau Federation. "The American Farm Bureau took a degree of risk when they partnered with us," says Poole. "They were understandably skeptical of our motives. But they shared our vision, and we are both much farther along as a result.

"This program shows the willingness of agricultural leaders--with whom we have no traditional relationship--to listen to one another. A key learning from our experience is that your stakeholders include your critics. Don't immediately assume that if you disagree, you still can't find common ground," Poole concludes.

THE SHARED SOLUTIONS CAMPAIGN OVERVIEW

Strategies                          Execution/Tactics

POSITIONING:                        * Exhibited, spoke and sponsored
Promote Interdependence               programs related to shared issues
* Raise the visibility of Altria      at more than 50 American Farm
  and its interdependence             Bureau Federation and national
  with agriculture                    commodity association conventions
                                      across the United States.
* Promote Altria's brand-           * Launched media relations effort
  building efforts and                at two national ag media
  demonstrate its value               conventions and encouraged media
  to agriculture                      to broaden its reporting of
                                      issues "beyond the farm gate"
* Humanize the company                through ongoing communications,
                                      media partner programs and
* Create and share new                attendance at annual meetings.
  knowledge about shared              In 2000,  Altria awarded a
  issues                              Beyond Harvest Agricultural
                                      Journalism Award to recognize
                                      broader reporting about
                                      interdependence.
                                    * Created a core brochure for use
                                      as a handout at key functions.
                                    * Developed a Web site featuring
                                      a map of commodity purchases,
                                      partner organizations and
                                      information about Altria's work
                                      with agriculture.
                                    * Invited dairy farm leaders to
                                      visit Kraft Foods headquarters
                                      annually to increase
                                      understanding of the issues they
                                      share with the company.
                                    * Established the AgKnowledge
                                      Center as a resource for current
                                      information on shared issues.
                                    * Material was reported in white
                                      papers.

RELEVANCY:                          Created and supported the following
Demonstrate commitment                Shared Solutions initiatives:
on shared issues
Following are the shared            Consumer understanding of modern
issues identified through the         ag & food practices:
1998 benchmark research:            * Conducted Gap Research Studies
* Consumer education of               with the American Farm Bureau
  modern ag & food                    Federation
  practices                         * Worked with Ag in the Classroom
* Profitability/risk                  programs
  management                        * Created "Commodity Countdown"
* International trade                 interactive game for the Shared
* Food safety                         Solutions Web site
* Environment
                                    Dairy Risk Management program
                                    * Worked with Cooperative Extension
                                      and dairy industry leaders to
                                      develop/distribute risk
                                      management curriculum and to
                                      conduct a Train-the-Trainer
                                      education program

                                    Trade Liberalization program
                                    * Developed white paper on the
                                      benefits of trade liberalization
                                    * Funded the American Soybean
                                      Association's "Trade
                                      Opportunities Program"

                                    Farm Safety
                                    * Sponsored and participated in
                                      Farm Safety Day Camps

                                    Pork Industry Shared Issue
                                    * Partnered with Vance Publishing
                                      on Pork Value Chain research
                                      program to initiate shared
                                      understanding among producers,
                                      processors and retailers

                                    Shared Solutions Agricultural
                                      Contributions program
                                    * Initiated flagship grant-making
                                      program that awarded more than
                                      $500,000 to 30 organizations for
                                      their innovative programs that
                                      address shared issues. Leaders
                                      of national farm and commodity
                                      associations selected worthy
                                      projects

                                    Environmental Quality Projects
                                    * Awarded jointly with Corporate
                                      Environmental Grant-making grants
                                      directed at water quality issues
                                      in California, Texas and Ohio,
                                      and environmental best management
                                      practices for dairy producers

                                    Shared Solutions Web site
                                    * Developed the Shared Issues
                                      section to provide information
                                      about projects and issues
                                      addressed through the program

WORKING TOGETHER:                   * Distributed Shared Issues
Engagement                            newsletter that promoted
* Engage ag leaders to find           interdependence/shared issues
  shared solutions to                 and asked readers to become
  shared issues                       involved with Altria on issues
                                      of mutual concern
                                    * Sponsored and spoke at farm
                                      leadership training programs that
                                      encourage farmers to be active on
                                      issues
                                    * Used trade-show exhibit to engage
                                      farm leaders on shared issues
                                    * Developed Partners in
                                      Agricultural Leadership (PALS)
                                      with the American Farm Bureau
                                      Federation Young Farmer &
                                      Ranchers program to establish a
                                      speaking network for AFBF and
                                      enhance leadership in agriculture