The Heartland NAMA chapter as well as student NAMA members and advisors from Illinois State University, toured Brand Consolidated, Inc. on October 13.

The meeting kicked off with lunch followed by a short tour of Brandt Headquarters, which was moved into Springfield, IL in June of 2007 after outgrowing its facility in Pleasant Plains, IL.

Rod Riech, from Brandt Marketing, gave a presentation on the history and background of Brandt and its three divisions and how each division supports each other and how they each reach separate markets.  Following the same theme, we then went into Brandt’s expansion via domestic acquisitions and international distributors – part of Brandt’s aggressive growth strategy.

The second leg of the presentation was given by Ed Corrigan, Brandt Agronomist, and Pat Schaddel, Technical Support Manager.  The retail agronomy division of Brandt has put a lot into its R & D over the past several years.  From this, they have developed the “Total Acre” marketing strategy.  This is a marketing concept focused on Brandt’s support systems – seed, fertilizer, custom application, precision ag, etc., – “Total Acre” cover by Brandt.

Lastly, Riech and Julie Reynolds, Executive Assistant, went through some of the branding exercises that Brandt has implemented over the last few years.  Some of the details associated with the branding exercise focused on a consistent image and etiquette to be recognized by consumers, and the customer service to back it up.