How the thing that makes you different will be the very thing you come to love.

Hogshead. With a last name like that, surely Sally Hogshead would have had a terrible time of it. Yet, she uses that distinction to be memorable. Maybe even to poke a little fun at herself.

Sally’s keynote address at the opening session of the NAMA Conference challenged us to stand out in a cluttered business environment – to be memorable. How? “By capturing and holding onto an ever-decreasing attention span,” explains Sally.  “Our biggest problem is that the average attention span used to be 20 minutes. Now, it’s nine – yes nine – seconds.” That’s the same attention span of a goldfish.

Using examples from well-known products, advertisers, and even online dating, Hogshead illustrated how Marketing that Fascinates can bring meaning to a meaningless product. For example, ‘Nose Worms’ are simply gummy worms renamed and repackaged at a higher price. Jagermeister, though not especially tasty (in fact, hardly anyone likes the taste) continues an astounding sales growth. This is due to the emotional attachment, a badge of honor for drinking the stuff. And with online dating, it’s simply not enough to grab attention with a simple ‘Hi.’

Sally covered seven response triggers that fascinate and engage: 1) Power – taking command; 2) Passion – attract through emotion; 3) Mystique – building curiosity; 4) Prestige – increasing respect; 5) Alarm – urgent need; 6) Rebellion – change the game; 7) Trust – loyalty to a cause, person.

By using one or more of these fascination advantages, you can harness the first nine seconds of fleeting attention. Then, maybe hold it for a bit longer. Says Hogshead, “Ninety-nine percent of what we are, is the same as everyone else. It’s the one percent that’s truly amazing and memorable.”

Thanks to the American Business Media Agri-Council for sponsoring this very memorable keynote address.

Thoughts on a powerful market that’s coming of age.

Jason Ryan Dorsey knows a little bit about Generation ‘Y.’ He is one. And, he’s absolutely passionate about ways to market to them. Using a high-energy presentation, Jason outlined who Gen Y’ers are, and why they are that way.

According to Jason, there are 78.8 million people in the ‘Y’ generation in the U.S. (birth years 1977 through 1995). All think they are special and unique. They often feel entitled. They seek instant gratification and are outcome-oriented. And, although mostly thought of as tech-savvy, they are actually tech-dependent. In other words, they don’t know how it works; they just need technology and can use it.

Gen Y brings a different perspective to the market. According to Dorsey, “Overall, Gen Y is more educated than any previous generation, yet they have less work experience.” How they were parented played a large part. “Boomers tried to make it easier for their children, but in doing so, created a group of ‘Adult-olescents,’” says Jason. “Gen Y wants the freedom of an adult without the responsibility. To Gen Y, you’re an adult when you turn 30.”

Gen Y is also becoming a powerful market. By 2017, this generational group will outspend Boomers. In fact, they’ll have $214 Billion to spend.

How do you tap in to this market? According to Dorsey, use taglines like ‘As unique as you are.’ Visually connect with key life moments such as college graduation, getting married, having children, and taking on the family business. Don’t ask for referrals. Rather, see if you can be of help to their friends. And remember, birthdays – and birth weeks and birth months – are the most important times to remember.

Finally, communicating with Gen Y is simple: Text.

Our thanks to Sygenta for sponsoring this valuable look at Gen Y.

Success skills for the blisteringly busy.

Making time for yourself. Daydreaming. Taking time to enjoy the moment.

Sounds like a fantasy, especially with everything we have to accomplish in a day. Our calendars are filled with meetings, to-do lists and appointments. Get everything done and done well, and we’ll surely be happy.

“The trouble is, as a society, we’re not very happy,” says Juliet Funt who presented at the closing session. As daughter of Allen Funt who created the Candid Camera TV show, Juliet spent a lifetime observing the hidden truths beneath our social selves.

“We need to create ‘white space’ on our calendars,” Juliet states. “White space that allows us time to daydream, to take advantage of life’s simple moments.” Research has shown that daydreaming or allowing the mind to wander actually helps us be more creative, more productive.

So how do we create calendar ‘white space?’ By blocking off time just for us. And to do this, we’ll need to either do fewer things, or do some things less well. Juliet admits this may be difficult for most people, especially since we’ve been programmed to do more and more, better and better. Yet, there are certain projects that, frankly, no one will really notice how well they’re done. Or if they get done at all.

Juliet’s presentation pulled from a wealth of stories – both personal and gathered from friends, family and business relationships. Entertaining as well as informative, Juliet Funt capped off a great NAMA Conference.

Many thanks to the Beef Checkoff Program and Elanco Animal Health for their sponsorship.

Students from Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo took first place at the Student Marketing Competition sponsored by Monsanto. The competition was held April 13-15 in Kansas City, MO.

The Cal Poly marketing team had 15 students involved with this year’s project to market seedless lemons. The team spent the last several months doing market research, writing the marketing plan, and developing a presentation.

The top six marketing teams this year were: First place, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo; Second place, Purdue University; Third place, Kansas State University; finalists include: The Ohio State University; Texas A&M University – College Station; and Michigan State University.

Students decide on a project and develop a plan to successfully bring the product or service to the marketplace. In developing their marketing plan, students follow the same practices and principles used by today’s marketing professionals. Teams submit a written plan summary prior to the competition and then make a formal presentation of their marketing plan to a panel of judges at the competition. The judges’ panel consists of marketing and agribusiness professionals.

Overall, 30 student NAMA chapters participated in the marketing competition. The competition is part of the annual Agri-Marketing Conference. Over 300 student members attended the conference.

For a list of the Student Marketing Competition Winners/Finalists and to view their Executive Summaries visit http://www.nama.org/student/marketing.html.

For a list of the Scholarship Recipients visit http://www.nama.org/student/scholarship.html.

For a list of the winners of the Outstanding Student Chapter Competition visit http://www.nama.org/student/outstanding.html.

ABEF GOLF OUTING
The ABEF hosted its annual Golf Outing during the 2011 Agri-Marketing Conference to help raise money for the Student NAMA Careers Program. The ABEF Golf Outing took place on Tuesday, April 12, at WinterStone Golf Course in Independence, MO.

Golfers enjoyed a beautiful day for the golf outing. Taking third place in the golf outing was Jason Weil, Kansas Agriculture Network; John Shostak, Kansas Farm Bureau; and Dennis Miner, Penton Media. Second place went to Troy Schroeder, Broadhead; Randy Groff, Mosaic Company; Heidi Nelson, Harvest PR & Marketing; and Heather Rossow, Penton Media. First place winners were Bob Bunker, J.L. Farmakis; Chet Slump, iNet Solutions; Ted Haller, Teddy Media; and Bill Farmakis, J.L. Farmakis.

There were also 2 closest to the hole contests which were won by Steve Custer, Farm Journal Media and John Shostak, Kansas Farm Bureau.

Special thanks also to the sponsors of the ABEF Golf Outing: Penton Media, Bock & Associates, Successful Farming and Mosaic Company. We look forward to another successful Golf Outing next year in Kansas City!

ABEF AUCTIONS
The ABEF Silent Auction and Online Media Auction raised over $25,700 for the Student Careers Program. Items in the auctions ranged from wine to media packages to iPods. Special thanks to all who donated and bid on items in the Auctions this year!

ABEF STUDENT RAFFLE
Attendees had a chance to win a Vizio 55″ Flat Screen TV courtesy of Penton Media at the 2011 Agri-Marketing Conference. NAMA Student chapters sold tickets in advance as well as at the conference for a chance to win the TV. The winning raffle ticket was sold by Jacklyn Schroeder with Delaware Valley College to Tim Kantz.

Over $5,110 was raised from the Student Raffle and schools received $5.00 for each ticket sold, meaning $2,555 of that money will be returned to the student chapters to help cover expenses to next year’s conference. The school that sold the most raffle tickets received $100 and the second place school received $50. In addition, the student who sold the most tickets received an additional cash prize of $100. This year’s top selling school was University of Florida and second place honors go to Delaware Valley College. The student selling the most raffle tickets was Bethany Coon, University of Florida.

During the 2011 NAMA Student Marketing Competition, held April 13-15 in Kansas City, the NAMA Careers Committee honored Dr. John B. Riley’s 25 years of tireless service to NAMA and his dedication to the student experience by renaming the Outstanding Advisor Award in his name.

It is now the “Dr. John B. Riley Outstanding Advisor Award.”  This was an emotional surprise for both Dr. Riley and the University of Tennessee-Knoxville NAMA students who were with him during the awards ceremony on Thursday evening.

The Committee had been looking for a way to recognize Dr. Riley for his service and decided it was fitting to do this in his 25^th year of advising NAMA marketing teams.

Taking home the Dr. John B. Riley Outstanding Student Advisor Award was Dustin Bass with Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

For a list of all recipients of the 2011 Outstanding Student Chapter competition visit http://www.nama.org/student/outstanding.html.

During NAMA’s annual conference, Amy Bradford, GROWMARK, was awarded the Outstanding Professional Award, as a result of her nomination by the Illinois State University Student Chapter.

Since Amy was unable to accept the award in Kansas City, it was presented to her by the Illinois State University Student Chapter during their annual end-of-year cookout.  Over 100 students, faculty and alumni were in attendance.