The Rural Voice, 1990-01, Page 27promotion is that you concentrate on
a certain image," says Pat. "Your logo
is very important. Everything you do
— whether it's your stationery, your
advertising, or the sign on your trailer
— should have that symbol that's
recognizable right away. In our case,
it's the Hereford animal with the oval
around it. At first glance, people
know that's Cornell Farms."
advertising, and still other promotion-
al tools. They make a yearly plan and
work out a budget — sometimes
stretching its limits for a special effort.
Last year's project was a cattle
trailer with "Cornell Farms Polled
Herefords" painted on the side. This
year, they've hired a professional firm
to create a video of their farm.
The farm video coincides directly
This year's promotion project is a professionally produced video of Cornell Farms.
A promotional device doesn't
have to be strictly business to be an
attention -getter. Drive up Devlin's La
Vallee Road North and you can't help
but notice the whimsical mailbox
modelled on a Hereford cow. Of
course the Cornell Farms name and
logo are repeated there, too.
"We try to be consistent," Pat
says. "In the beginning, our promo-
tion was kind of hit-and-miss and
trial -and -error. That's how it is when
it's a hobby; you're not intent on
making everything fit together. As
your business progresses, becoming
more and more productive, you start
thinking about these things — like
making sure your image is the same
on everything, and that even the
colours match. And you're always
trying to do a new thing every year."
Over the past five or six years, the
Cornelis have expanded their promo-
tion portfolio, adding Cornell Farms
caps, a gate sign, a portable sign, dir-
ect mail marketing, specially targeted
year, thereby increasing the necessity
of a concerted sales push. This raises
the question, Kim says, of "What have
we got to do in the future to sell them,
that we're not doing now? That's
where the video comes in."
One of the alternatives to produc-
ing a video might be to take some of
the top breeding stock on the show
road, the Comells note. But that's not
necessarily the most sound move
financially.
"It's darned expensive to go, by
the time you haul your cattle to the
show, hire some help, and pay for
hotel rooms," Kim says.
And economics aside, Kim be-
lieves that the video is a better repre-
sentation of the entire farm operation.
Rather than focusing on perhaps two
or three of their brightest lights, Kim
says the video offers the opportunity
to say, "Look: here's our farm."
"We're not just selling an animal,"
Kim adds. "We're selling our pro-
gram."
"And when you're thinking about
promoting your farm operation," Pat
explains, "you also think about the
impression that you have of people
you'd buy cattle from. That gives you
a clue as to the type of business you
Any promotion "only works as well as your follow-up," Pat stresses.
with the Cornelis' business goals.
Their decision to increase their herd
by a specific percentage will result in
a higher number of bulls for sale each
want to be. We try to buy from people
with integrity, people who are profes-
sional. In turn, we want people to
think of us in the same positive light."
JANUARY 1990 25