AROUND THE INDUSTY
by Kiley McKinna
T
he message is simple, together we are stronger.
That said, it’s with a sense of great responsibility and a breed-
first approach we are pleased to showcase the inaugural print issue of
Limousin365, as the North American Limousin Foundation’s official
breed publication.
In a coordinated effort by the North American Limousin
Foundation and the Limousin365 group, it was our intentions with
the national publication to take advantage of the natural synergies
that existed within both respective organizations to provide the
Limousin membership with an efficient and effective promotional
tool. Ultimately, leading to the unification the breed’s national print
and digital news/marketing vehicles.
The goal is simple, to create a membership-friendly, diversified
promotional arm that delivers a combination of current breed
and industry-relevant news, while allowing Limousin breeders to
effectively communicate their messages in their method of choice.
In terms of staffing, as it relates to day-to-day services, we are proud
to have retained the more than capable Precision Marketing team
lead by Kyle Haley, Mary Quigley and Ricki Rickstool. From a sales
standpoint, we’ve enlisted the services of longtime, familiar Limousin
faces, DeRon Heldermon and Tom Rooney. Cumulatively this
group holds more than 100 years of Limousin marketing experience
and it’s with great confidence the Limousin365 ownership group
feels,we’ve positioned the breed’s promotional services in proven,
trusted and capable hands.
As many of you know, and for those that don’t, Limousin365 offers
a vast array of services. Hitting the high points of the services at your
disposal—a quarterly print publication (January-Spring Sale Edition,
April-Herd Bull Edition, July-Breeder Directory and October-Fall
Sale Edition); a monthly digital platform of continual promotion,
online sale hosting and daily eblast services. I encourage each of
you to reach out with questions to any of our staff members to help
familiarize yourself with these services and how to best position your
program’s promotional efforts. Point blank, we are here for you and
willing to help you!
Now for the ‘around the industry’ and ‘cows’ portion of this
column. Maybe some of you are asking the questions, why the
stark shift in promotional approaches from print to digital? Where
do my promotional efforts need to focus to maximize value for
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my operation? Those are great questions. In part, to answer those
questions effectively I’m going to rely on my travel experiences
to all corners of North America visiting with Limousin breeders,
gaining feedback and merchandising cattle. Two things strike me,
1.) The beauty of our business is it is steeped in tradition and
habit; 2.) the way in which we communicate with one another and
receive news material is changing more rapidly than ever before.
As we think about that for a minute, perhaps it simply poses more
questions to ponder.
1) How do you currently communicate?
2) How does your existing customer base communicate?
3) How does your prospective customer base communicate?
Ultimately, as it applies to effectively marketing your product,
there’s no silver bullet, but I can suggest to you there has been an
overwhelming sense not only to service the “existing buyer,” but
also find a path to more effectively connect with the “prospective
buyer”, particularly in challenging markets. As with many things in
agriculture, those done best often come to us in a diversified approach.
I think the same holds true for our promotional efforts as it applies to
a print/digital approach.
With all of that in mind, I sincerely hope you enjoy our inaugural
issue. It’s of benefit to your respective program and a promotional
piece the Limousin breed can be proud of. I look forward to seeing
you down the road, talking more ‘cows’ and would appreciate all
fashions of feedback as it applies to your official breed publication.
Remember, we are all in this together and together we are stronger!
• JANUARY 2020