After careful consideration it was decided that in order to overcome these problems we would conduct an educational type advertising and promotion campaign in a selected group of metropolitan areas. They are: Baltimore, Washington, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, Houston, Denver, Salt Lake City, Portland, Seattle, Northern California and Southern California. It is anticipated that more cities will be added as the program develops. Briefly here is how the various departments coordinate a lamb promotion and advertising program in a metropolitan city. After considerable research and study of all phases of supply and demand, a promotion and advertising schedule is prepared. At least a month before advertising begins, the lamb merchandising and the consumer service departments make personal contact with persons and firms who will be, in any way, connected with the purchase or sale of lamb. Lamb merchandising men contact all packers and many retailers in the marketing area informing them of the approaching advertising campaign and soliciting their cooperation. Home economists in the consumer service department solicit the help of food editors in publicizing lamb recipes. They also conduct an intensive grassroots program by giving demonstrations on lamb cookery before women's groups and the home economics classes of schools and colleges. Once this thorough groundwork is well underway, the advertising program is launched using newspapers, radio or television or some combination of those media. This advertising stresses the economy, nutritional value and taste appeal of the lesser known cuts of lamb. The consumer advertising approach is one of information and education. Conducted on a market-by-market basis, expenditures are determined by population, dollar volume of food sales and the lamb consumption factor in that particular area. The ASPC conducts an intensive educational advertising program in hotel, restaurant, institutional, meat retail and provisioner trade publications. Adver tising is coordinated with media merchandising, publicity and fieldwork of ASPC home economists and merchandisers. Examples of ads and materials include: Full-page, full-color ads in major metropolitan newspapers featuring new uses, new recipe ideas. One-third of a page black-and-white newspaper ads featuring recipe ideas and slanted toward overcoming misconceptions about lamb. Fine, informative television commercials featuring recipe ideas. Meat retail trade ads-new methods and profitable techniques. As a part of its advertising and promotion effort, the American Sheep Producers Council found that it had to create and develop many merchandising aids for lamb. There were no new educational tools or aids. For example, no new recipes had been developed for lamb in the field of quantity feeding for hotels, restaurants, and institutions since 1938. There were no educational devices for schools and colleges. There were few merchandising aids for packers and retailers. Since its inception, the American Sheep Producers Council has developed many aids and merchandising tools. A few of the educational and merchandising aids developed by the ASPC include its complete Lamb Cutting and Merchandising Manual, the first of its kind ever developed for packers and meat retailers; pointof-sale material, consumer recipes, motion pictures for consumer and retailer education, and a restaurant technical bulletin. ASPC merchandising materials have been acclaimed as among the finest and most helpful aids ever offered. Examples of merchandising aids for meat retailers are: Full-color point-of-purchase poster materials supplied to all meat retailers at no charge. Colorful series of recipe folders supplied to all meat retailers for distribution to customers. Several million folders also have been distributed to consumers through direct mail, media editorial departments, women's clubs, schools and colleges. Recipe labels produced for either heat sealing to outside of packaged lamb, or for insertion inside wrapped lamb packages. Since one of the principal goals of the American Sheep Producers Council is to broaden the demand for lamb, extensive "grassroots" promotion is needed. This is accomplished by supplying Mrs. Homemaker with information on how to properly prepare and serve lamb. Home economists in the consumer service department work with women's groups, clubs, colleges, and high schools in con ducting lectures and demonstrations on lamb cookery. They supply the housewife with recipes and cooking information about lamb. Newspaper, radio, and television food editors also are supplied with information about lamb with tastetempting recipes. Development of quantity recipes and a technical manual for the vast field of mass feeding is another highlight of this department. So that all segments of the livestock and meat industry, and the consumer, will be aware of what efforts are being made to promote the sheepman's products, it is necessary to supply information and educational tools. Through news releases the sheepman is kept informed of the progress of his program. The packer and processor and the retailer also are made aware of past accomplishments and future plans of the American Sheep Producers Council. Besides the dissemination of news concerning the Council's promotion and advertising programs and its efforts to expand the demand for lamb and wool, educational tools are supplied. These include: Motion pictures directed toward the education of consumers on the use of the sheepman's products and the education of retailers and packers on proper methods of cutting lamb; the use of informative booklets and brochures; the use of the Lamb Cutting and Merchandising Manual, and others. TESTIFY TO PROGRAM'S SUCCESS All segments of the livestock and meat industry have testified to the outstanding success of the lamb promotion program to date. Here are only a few samples which strongly indicate the success of this program. "From my own observation and information from our retail zones in which your programs have operated, the promotions have been effective. They have drawn both the consumers' and retailers' attention to lamb-have augmented and aided the retailers' advertising, and resulted in greater lamb sales than would have been without the promotion. They have apparently been particularly helpful toward increasing the demand for the less popular cuts. "We certainly feel there is need for advertising and promotion of lamb if lamb (and hence the lamb producer) is to increase or hold its present share of the meat dollar, and particularly to do so with satisfactory returns. "Competition among meats and meat substitutes is keen, and consumers are being offered an increasing selection and freedom of choice in their food purchasing. These factors increase the importance of consumer preselling on particular products or brands. We believe the lamb preselling job, in the main, will have to be done by producers, for those who sell your lamb can't do a great deal of preselling of one meat over another. "We hope your good work will be continued."-D. M. Phipps, meat supply division, Safeway Stores, Inc., Oakland, Calif. "We sincerely believe that the promotion and advertising effort put forth by the ASPC has had a tremendous effect on the sale and consumption of lamb throughout the country. We feel that the job has been well done. "*** we believe that a vigorous advertising and promotion campaign will be necessary to bring the demand for lamb back to its past high level."-Douglas N. Allan, president, James Allan & Sons, wholesale butchers, San Francisco, Calif. "We feel there is a continuing need for the advertising and promotion of lamb, if all segments are to be provided with the consistent profits so necessary to a healthy industry. To that end we think there is much value to the promotional work being done by the ASPC and as the program moves along, with more experience being gained through coordination of ideas within the industry, we are confident further substantial gains can and will be accomplished.”—Ă. J. Sullivan, manager, lamb division, Armour & Co., Chicago, Ill. "While we feel that your efforts have been well worthwhile, we also believe that you have just scratched the surface and further and/or continuing efforts on the part of the council will result in more and more lamb being merchandised in parts of the country that have, heretofore, had a prejudice against merchandising this fine type of meat. "I can tell you that our experience in using your material and following up on your ads has been outstanding. As you know, we have never had any trouble selling lamb in New York or Seattle, Wash., but in the entire Midwest, where we operate approximately 3,000 retail stores, lamb has long been a neglected item and very little was being done about it. Through the use of your material in such cities as Milwaukee, Chicago, Kansas City, Topeka, and Wichita the percentage of increase in our lamb business is almost unbelievable. This is certainly a healthy condition for us, as retailers and the end results cannot help but make this a healthy condition for the producers of lamb. "We strongly urge that you continue this type of promotion, because we believe the end results will be of mutual benefit to everyone concerned."-Glen R. Curtis, vice president, perishables department, Independent Grocers Alliance, Chicago, Ill. "The value of your organization's efforts is evidenced in our bulletins and merchandising letters to the supply house meat merchandisers. You have made us more conscious of the need for lamb promotion. "Secondly, too many retailers fail to recognize that lamb has tremendous merchandising possibilities. Mrs. Consumer likes to shop the store that has everything and lamb constitutes part of the 'everything' that the better merchandised store offers. Even though it may not be a major tonnage item in a great many stores, it can still represent considerable volume and profit to the retailer and also create greater variety in display. "Your job is to create the demand by the consumer and the desire to merchandise by the retailer. What better way is there than promotion and advertising?"-George S. Waldron, director of meat merchandising, Red & White Corp., Chicago, Ill. "I would like for you to know just how we feel about the work of the ASPC council, particularly so since it is very hard for you or us to come up with a yardstick to measure by at this time *** my experience leads me to believe that you are well on the way to something that has been needed for a very long time. "That is why I am happy to say that never in my life have I seen a livestock program of this magnitude develop so fast and with so few mistakes.”—Garvey Haydon, Wilson & Co., Inc., Chicago, Ill. "We, at Kroger, are still not selling the lamb we should be. I have told several people from your department that we are no different than thousands of other merchants. Our people have just not considered lamb enough in merchandising plans. "Your ASPC program is just now beginning to break through to the merchandisers and the public. To build lamb business on a sound basis this program will need to be continued and even expanded. "I think more emphasis should be put on the home economics program with the girls now in high school and college. They are our customers of tomorrow. "We feel that 1958 will see a nice improvement in our lamb business. We have been successful in getting three of our divisions to agree to go all out on lamb for this year at markups in line with markup carried on other meat items."-Harold F. Crow, procurement manager of railstock, The Kroger Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. "I would like to thank you for the copy of Lamb Cutting and Merchandising Manual. The information in this manual is in keeping with good, sensible, and modern merchandising ideas. Most of the material presented coincides with our company policies of giving the consumers full value for their money when purchasing lamb. "Also, I would like to comment on your promotional material on lamb. I believe it has helped to remedy a condition in this area, a few years ago, when certain cuts of lamb—namely, breasts, necks, and shanks—were difficult to sell if they could be sold at all. The demand for these economy cuts has consistently been increasing to a point where on occasion recently there has been a scarcity of shanks and necks. "Five years ago, in the Portland area, it was not uncommon to discard.most of the lamb breast or attempt to offer it for sale at 10 cents per pound. Breast of lamb now is retailing in the Portland area at from 19 to 25 cents per pound, and I believe local retailers will agree with me that your promotional efforts on the rough cuts of lamb are mainly responsible. This change in buying habits has had a tendency to remove some of the pressure from the more expensive cuts of lamb. "Packers also claim there has been an increase in the demand for rough cuts by the restaurant trade. "Nothing takes the place of good advertising and good public relations to help sell a product, and, in my book, you fellows are doing an outstanding job."-B. E. Duin, meat consultant, Safeway Stores, Inc., Portland, Oreg. LAMB PRICES SHOW GREATER STABILITY One of the most serious problems confronting sheep producers in the past has been the severe price breaks encountered during the market year. Promotion and advertising have helped to stabilize lamb prices and level out, to a great extent, the ups and downs that often prove so drastic to sheep growers. By in 23102-58-6 tensifying its advertising and promotion effort during periods of peak supply, the ASPC has tended to eliminate drastic price breaks for the producer. LONG-RANGE ENDEAVOR Promotion and advertising must, of necessity, be a long-range endeavor. The lamb program, for example, must be carefully planned and expanded in line with supply. As sheepmen hold back more ewe lambs in order to increase the size of their flocks, there will be less lamb for consumption for a period of 1 or 2 years. During this time, the American Sheep Producers Council is building a sound demand for lamb through its program of advertising and education. As the supply of lamb for consumption begins to increase, there will be good markets for the product and more stable prices for the producer and the consumer. In its advertising and promotion, the council must regulate its schedule to avoid increasing consumer demand in certain areas beyond the capacity of the sheep industry to supply that demand. It is neither the intent, nor the desire, of the council to create excessive price price advances. Rather, it is our aim to coordinate the advertising and promotion program with the supply available. At the same time, the council intends to continue to broaden the areas of distribution and consumption in order to prevent an oversupply in any retail market area. The task originally assigned to the American Sheep Producers Council presented numerous problems, many of which already have been overcome. Only time and the continued diligent attention to the task at hand will solve the sheep industry's problems. The American Sheep Producers Council believes that it is on the right path toward helping to establish a strong and self-reliant sheep industry in the United States. Research is a vital force in the American economy today. Most products today are sold and purchased by persons whom the producer never sees personally. It becomes increasingly important for the producer of goods to extend, supplement, and verify his personal observations with facts about the living and buying habits of those who use or might use his products-their attitudes, preferences, and dislikes for these people are the market for the product. No provision is made for market research under the National Wool Act and, as a result, the American Sheep Producers Council is entirely dependent for market research and information on other organizations. It is understood that when the Wool Act is renewed, another referendum will be conducted to determine if growers favor the continuation of the advertising and promotion program and desire to expend their own funds for creating a demand for their products. Only by building a sound demand for its products can the sheep industry carry out the intent of the Wool Act as set forth by Congress. AMERICAN SHEEP PRODUCERS COUNCIL, INC. Budget, fiscal year July 1, 1957, through June 30, 1958 Assets: AMERICAN SHEEP PRODUCERS COUNCIL, INC., DENVER, COLO. Statement of assets, liabilities, and fund balance as of Dec. 31, 1957 AMERICAN SHEEP PRODUCERS COUNCIL, INC., DENVER, COLO. Statement of receipts and disbursements from beginning to date, Sept. 12, 1955 through Dec. 31, 1957 Mr. MATTHEWS. I want to take the time to introduce Congressman McIntire from Maine who is with us and who is an important member of this committee. I wonder if the committee has any questions that they would like to ask? Mr. HILL. It is a very fine statement-really excellent. Mr. McINTIRE. I might say that I apologize for being late. I was splitting my time between cotton and wool. Mr. MATTHEWs. I think he attends more meetings that do not concern his district, than most any of us. That does not mean to say the he is not on the job when subjects concerning his district come up. We appreciate the cooperation that he shows when we discuss subjects of agriculture that do not apply to him particularly. Mr. McINTIRE. Wool is quite closely related, but not from the production standpoint. We have in Maine a great many spinners who have a very internal interest in the wool problem. |