Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

Karen and mgoodman, great questions. Below are some clarifications. John Blue

original question: How can we attract non-farm folks to ag events without being too 'hokey' or 'folksy'?
* People have a certain impression of agriculture at fairs and festivals. This question implies there is a belief that people feel agricultural events at fairs / festivals are hokey / folksy.
* In what ways can agriculture events be created that are not hokey / folksy?
** measure of success would be more attendance.
** Looking for ideas on non-hokey / non-folksy ways to present agriculture in a positive nature at fairs/festivals.

original question: How do you measure event participation? How do you follow up on leads?
* This question is actually looking for ideas on how to measure event participation. Attendance is one metric. Are there other types of metrics that should be considered?
** While attendance is a metric, it only measures that people attended. Yes, it could be a proxy of interest. However, are there other ways to measure event participation and connect the participation to attitude/impression/feelings toward agriculture as an industry?
* In what way can events connect with an audience so a followup can occur? This is another "looking for ideas" question.
** what techniques are there to connect to the attendees of an event after the event is over? Collecting contact info for follow-up surveys is an example. Are there some other actions one should consider?

original question: Connection & impressions are key with public. How do you do this in only 5 minutes or less at festival?
* Another idea request. From your point of view, if you we assigned to improve the public view of agriculture in 5 minutes with an exhibit, what would you do?
** An impression measure would need to be created/invented(?), how do you capture impressions in 5 minutes or less, etc.
** Karen, you are correct in food, kids, and fun are used in fairs/festivals to attract people to ag exhibits. And that has what has been done for the last 25 to 50 years. The question is, are those exhibits actually effecting the public perception of agriculture in a positive fashion?

Thanks again for the great questions!
John Blue

You're taking on a big mission to change the image of Agriculture (as an industry). Hope you have a big budget! ;)

My approach to this would be to break the task into small chunks. Start, say, with Indianapolis or Lafayette. Those are both cities surrounded by lots of farmland and where agriculture is a big deal.

Find out what you can about your target audience just in that area. Who are they? Where do they live? What are their attitudes toward the Agriculture industry? What do they know already? What kinds of events do they attend? Why? What would it take to get them to the Marion (or Tippecanoe) County Fair, or the Indiana State Fair? Have they ever attended? What was their experience? Etc.

Until you can identify the need, it's pretty difficult to address it. Start by getting a baseline understanding of your target audience.

(FWIW, I'm a city person but I've done projects in the agriculture industry, and spent lots of time on farms and interviewing farmers. Learned a lot too!)

If this is a really important project for you, I'd recommend a more formal research process so you can project the findings to your target population. You can get professional help at a very reasonable cost.

Hi mgoodman,

Thanks for the post. Great directional items:)

This is not just a Truffle Media activity but a larger ag community effort. The AgChat Foundation is a central player working with other ag organizations on defining direction and getting in place funding to tackle image, perception, etc.

Thanks again,
John Blue