Pork promotional video: Shows potential or stuck in a rut?

As an agricultural advocate, it is my job to find new methods to share with consumers the practices and methods used in today's technology-savvy world. With this objective, many commodity groups and organizations are striving to enhance their efforts to promote the industry to society with increased use of social media and videography. One group recently released a video to do just that.

The Ohio Pork Producers Council published a Youtube video on Feb. 11 to depict how hogs are raised and provide different retail products we typically eat. The video titled, "Pork from Farm to Fork: Where'd Ya Get That Pork?", brings an animated side to farming.

Watching this video objectively, I see positives and areas of improvement to its effectiveness (these are my personal opinions). 

Positives:

• The video is fun and presents a down-to-earth feel with the music and cartoon images.
• It places an emphasis on current trends in agriculture. This is show with the modern style of housing for the hogs.
• It is concise and to the point in explaining hog production.

Areas of Improvement:

• Who is the target audience? This seems unclear. The video appears more sophomoric in its presentation.
• Was the selection of music the best way to present current trends in agriculture? The idea of using a version of "Old McDonald" could make the audience think of traditional livestock production methods while this video is promoting the new age in raising animals.
• Including real-life examples of hog farmers that are represented could strengthen the end of the video.

From the standpoint of a general consumer, I feel this video could be improved to better identify hog farming as a reputable career and livelihood of the farming families. It is important to share our stories in the industry and we must find the right techniques to do it successfully.

What are your thoughts on this video? Do you like the presentation of the information or do you feel it could be improved upon? Help me start a discussion about this video or others found in the agricultural industry.

This advertising is not by 'chance'

This weekend, I went on a shopping trip with one of my friends. I love shopping, but what I love even more is comparing the different marketing campaigns these companies use in their displays and store layouts.

After taking my graphic design classes, I am better able to interpret what type of feel and approach these organization are portraying. One company who I feel excels in their marketing approach is Tacori. 

Tacori is a jewelry brand I first saw on QVC while in high school. Now, all I dream about is filling my jewelry box with their beautiful gems and statement pieces. When stopping by and browsing their jewelry in the mall, it is easy to pinpoint the Tacori display – it is all in a royal blue case. I think their branding is outstanding. Not only do they have consistency in their design concepts, but they also showcase the quality of their products in a variety of campaigns.

Most recently, Tacori created a video depicting a story of love by chance. The video called Par Chance has a variety of Tacori jewelry worn by the actress while telling her love story. Below is the trailer of the video, but I highly encourage viewing the full-length film here (it is only 3:36 long).

Not only do I find this video captivating because I enjoy romance, but I thought it was creative how Tacori used some of their current advertising campaigns within the video. One of my favorites they are currently using for their 18k925 Fine Jewelry Collection is the martini glass ad, “Pour on the Glamour”.

If you notice within the video, while they are at the restaurant, she places her necklace into his martini glass and he proceeds to drink from it anyway.

One of my favorite ads for their engagement rings is the chess ad, “Checkmate”. I found their approach very unique in symbolizing the journey to love. 

The video also includes a game of chess, where the female wins the game against her pursuer. This clip also symbolizes how love is a process and in the video, the actor is given clues to finding this mysterious woman he is wooing.

Here are more of Tacori's advertising campaigns.

Can you find any more similarities between their current campaigns and the video?

Overall, I found this video very effective and cohesive to the marketing scheme Tacori has been using for virtual and print media. Even though it may be a while before I can have my first piece of Tacori jewelry, their advertising is very enticing and pleasing for me.

What do you think of their campaigns and in particular, the video they released? Are there any other jewelry brands you feel are effective in their campaigns with video usage?