Best of Show NAMA Win Caps Off a Hardware-heavy Night for MorganMyers

It’s said that competition makes you better. And that’s why we love the National Agri-Marketing Association’s (NAMA) Best of NAMA.

The national competition showcases the innovative and effective work of some pretty amazing agencies and communicators, providing plenty of inspiration and the opportunity to see how our work stacks up to the competition.

We’re thrilled to report it was a hardware-heavy night for MorganMyers and our clients. We took home:

• Consumer Best of Show
• Five 1st Place Awards
• Three Merit Awards

Seeing campaigns create change for our clients is the sweetest reward, but being recognized among our peers is the cherry on top. Here’s a recap of this year’s winning entries.

BEST OF SHOW – CONSUMER

Illinois Farm Families® We Are the 96: The Corporation (Corporation TV Spot)

After Illinois Farm Families’ (IFF) consumer research revealed only 47% of consumers think Illinois farms are family-owned, the state’s leading commodity and farm organization wanted to create a statewide campaign to build residents’ awareness of the real truth: that 96% of farms in Illinois are family-owned.

Anchoring the campaign is a :30 commercial that clears up any confusion about exactly who owns and operates most Illinois farms. The commercial focuses on the “corporate” roles of one Illinois farm family, coupled with images of several other families showing the depth and diversity of families farming today. The commercial premiered in the biggest way possible — during Super Bowl LVII.

The commercial earned more than 4 million impressions statewide from advertising placements. A separate earned media component generated another 18 million potential impressions.

FIRST PLACE NAMA AWARDS

AgReliant Genetics Tar Spot Summit (Events-Media, Public Relations)

AgReliant Genetics’ Tar Spot Summit helped position the company as a leader and a reliable source of information on tar spot management. The two-day summit brought together top agronomists at AgReliant Genetics, farmers and university scientists to discuss the latest developments in fighting this relatively new threat to the U.S. corn crop.

Media coverage of the event helped farmers and their advisors better understand the disease, its risk factors and how to manage tar spot more effectively. The summit generated 192 articles in print and online media, 4.3 million impressions and 800,000 social media impressions.

IFF: We Are the 96 Corporation TV Spot (Ad Campaign Element) 

To launch its We Are The 96 campaign, IFF aired a :30 commercial during a premiere TV viewing event, Super Bowl LVII, on local broadcast TV, streaming TV and digital advertising extensions. The popularity of the event provided an opportunity to connect with a highly engaged audience.

The commercial earned more than 4 million impressions statewide from advertising placements. And Illinois farmers proudly rallied around the premiere, sharing their excitement about the campaign launch with photos of their Super Bowl watch parties on social media, further amplifying the campaign to communities across the state.

The combination of traditional and digital advertising for this campaign element strategically captured consumers’ attention during a prime-time moment and maintained exposure with an online digital audience after the game.

IFF We Are the 96 Social (Social Media Campaign)

The fact that 96% of Illinois’ farms are family-owned and operated is a critical insight. Why? Research has shown consumers who believe a farm is family-owned are more likely to trust farmers and have positive perceptions about their farming practices. IFF created an integrated campaign to build awareness of the 96% data point among the target audiences: Illinois parents, ages 25-39, and Illinois farmers.

Over 20 farm families throughout the state participated in content development for the campaign. Social assets included a mix of long- and short-form videos, individual videos, reels, and photos to drive users to wearethe96.org.

The campaign earned more than 6 million impressions across social channels, while driving both paid and organic engagements.

SCN Nematode Day (Unique Sponsorship Campaign, Events-Media, Public Relations)

The SCN Coalition’s National Nematode Day campaign was a fun and engaging way to spread the message about the importance of active management of soybean cyst nematodes (SCN), as well as other parasitic nematodes impacting soybean production.

Featuring “Are you smarter than a nematode?” quizzes and sweepstakes, the four-week campaign sponsored by BASF, Bayer, Nufarm, and Syngenta encouraged farmer and agribusiness participation. Digital and social promotions amplified the messages, and press releases and media outreach generated additional buzz.

The social media campaign reached more than 2.13 million people, with digital ads and videos reaching an audience of nearly 1 million. Nearly 1,100 people entered the sweepstakes and 200 opted into The SCN Coalition’s e-newsletter.

Wisconsin Corn Water Rec Guide (PR Campaign, Consumer Category) 

Research showed Wisconsin consumers are concerned about water quality. That prompted Wisconsin Corn to plan an integrated campaign around digital and social media amplifications and influencer partnerships to create awareness about Wisconsin corn farmers’ commitment to clean water. An online water recreation guide anchored the campaign. It featured top destinations and activities to enjoy at each location. Farmers also shared their favorite water spots in the guide, along with a clean water message.

We partnered with Madison and Milwaukee Moms to populate the interactive map with user-generated recommendations. We spread the word about the guide and amplified messaging by partnering with Madison and Milwaukee Moms, as well as Discover Wisconsin and three social media micro-influencers.

Wisconsin corn messages were seen more than 2.7 million times throughout the two-month campaign; there were more than 26,000 engagements through multiple channels.

MERIT NAMA AWARDS  

IFF We Are the 96 Behind the Scenes video (Audio/Video Feature or Testimonial)

As IFF prepared to launch a dedicated consumer campaign around the data point that 96% of farms in Illinois remain family-owned and operated, we saw an opportunity to have farmers share in their own words why they chose to be involved with the campaign. Behind-the-scenes video testimonials of the three featured farmers informed other Illinois farmers about the campaign’s purpose and created excitement for the campaign launch, motivating other farmers to get involved.

The video became a rally cry for Illinois farmers, a source of pride that energized Illinois’ farming community. The video has been shared in commodity and association board meetings, circulated among staff and leaders, and amplified through Illinois via regional and national ag media.

To date, the video has received more than 24,000 views with more than 900 hours of watch time — all without any paid promotion.

IFF We Are the 96 Website (Website)

IFF’s We Are The 96 integrated campaign included the creation of the web destination wearethe96.org on the IFF website. There, consumers can watch videos related to the campaign, find resources for buying local, and explore the profiles of 20+ Illinois farm families, and even send those families messages of support or questions about food and farming.

The webpage was the most visited page of IFF’s website with more than 66,000 page views. More than 156 comments, questions and well-wishes have been submitted via the contact form to individual families.

Merck Animal Health Cattle Influencer Connections (Social Community Building and Engagement, Digital Category)

Internal data showed an opportunity for Merck Animal Health (MAH) to engage an even broader percentage of U.S. beef and dairy producers — upward of 96% — than it’s currently engaging on a regular basis. These are smaller-scale producers, with herd sizes in the 200+ range for beef farms and ranches and 500+ for dairy farms.

We leveraged the power of social influencer marketing to connect with the beef and dairy producer community on common animal health challenges and to share what MAH products and services influential producers and veterinarians are using to combat the issues.

We chose six microlevel social media influencers from an array of production backgrounds. Each influencer determined the creative approach and platform for content that connects with the cattle community on common operational challenges/questions and producer-backed solutions. That resulted in a wide variety of creative, engaging and authentic content.

From January to October 2023, the organic campaign generated 363,500 impressions. The 18,000 engagements resulted in an engagement rate of 5.97%.

BIG PICTURE

We take pride in our ability to break through the clutter to define an idea that builds trust, inspires action and transforms attitudes on behalf of our clients. Winning some hardware on behalf of our clients for those efforts is a pretty sweet reward.

Ready to see how we can move you? Reach out.