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As some of you may recall, following
the McGuinty government’s lead on Buy Ontario in early 2008, OCA began
to develop a strategy to promote and market Ontario Beef. A strategy
was approved by the OCA Board of Directors in August 2008. Discussions
regarding the goals and objectives of the initiative are currently
ongoing. It is expected that the plan will include both a local and a
provincial focus. The local focus will include the continuation of
programs such as the OCA Market Development Partnership Program. The
provincial focus will include a partnership with the Foodland
Ontario/Buy Ontario programs which will include developing policy around
the definition of “Ontario Beef”. Foodland Ontario has undertaken focus
group testing on the definition of Ontario beef and we are awaiting
their final report. Until Ontario beef is defined, the OCA Board feels
it is premature to move ahead with an advertising campaign.
Additionally, due to the economic challenges being faced by the beef
industry, it is expected that check-off events will decrease in 2009.
Aggressive advertising campaigns can cost tens of thousands of dollars
or more, and this type of promotional program is not within the OCA
budget. In the meantime, Foodland Ontario and the President’s Council
have effective advertising campaigns on television, radio and in print
that promote Ontario products including Ontario beef. For more
information on these campaigns, check out:
www.foodland.gov.on.ca
and
www.growourfarms.ca.
The Beef Information Center has also recently launched a $1.4 million
multimedia campaign, supporting the new Canadian beef brand, the
Canadian Beef Advantage. This campaign targets women in the Greater
Toronto Area between the ages of 25 to 49 who currently eat beef one to
two times per week and seeks to improve consumer perceptions around the
healthfulness of beef. This project has been supported in principle by
the OCA Board. |
