Situation

The SCN Coalition is planning to hold several large, in-person events in 2020 to educate soybean growers about soybean cyst nematode (SCN), the No. 1 yield-grabbing pathogen of soybeans. Due to COVID-19, the coalition, with the help of MorganMyers’ rich experience in agricultural messaging, has to rethink how to connect with this critical audience.

Objective

Leverage the power of video marketing and social media promotion to spotlight a series of management recommendations from The SCN Coalition that encourage sustainable soybean production.

Approach

A video series, dubbed “Let’s Talk Todes,” highlights different Coalition experts sharing best management practices for combating SCN. From one video shoot, 10 videos are created covering different topics – from how weather impacts SCN to selecting SCN resistant varieties. Select national media are also invited to attend the video shoot and have access to the experts. A digital and social campaign promote the videos during a six-week window at harvest time, and a series of written and audio press releases reinforce the information.

Results

We help amplify the message of actively managing SCN during harvest to encourage soybean growers to think differently about protecting their bottom line. We repeated benchmark research in 2020 that revealed 55% of growers recall our message of actively managing SCN.

result: 1.7 million impressions on social media result: 6-18% more growers result: 1.2 million ag media impressions