When you live in the state of Iowa, more often than not, corn is mentioned in a conversation. Whether it’s farmers talking about the corn market, women at the grocery store comparing corn casserole recipes, people listening to the Heywood Banks I-80 Corn Song or tv commercials about cellulosic ethanol made from corn.
POET Energy launched several tv commercials this spring about cellulosic corn ethanol. After watching them on YouTube, I appreciate the three spots for a couple of reasons.
1. The creativity of the message is well done. These commercials feature pseudo employees dropped in New York City and each sign off similarly by saying ”Part-time farmer, full time POET” or “Part-time plant manager, full time POET.” Each spot’s purpose is to inform us about the principles of POET and their impact on America.
2. The creative strategy of these spots are well thought out, planned and executed. POET has defined their market and are speaking to its different segments via American cable news networks CNN, Fox News, MSNBC as well as NBC’s Meet the Press.
While POET Energy is informing the American consumer about cellulosic ethanol, they must also market their message to the farmers that are the key to their success. Farmers must harvest second pass bales and large volumes of corncobs in order to manufacture cellulosic ethanol. A company like Vermeer (full disclosure, Vermeer is a Lessing-Flynn client) can help corn farmers collect both products to aid in the manufacture of cellulosic ethanol.
POET has a classic example of a push and pull strategy. POET’s “push” is taking their product directly to the consumer by educating them about their end product to create brand awareness at the point of purchase. Conversely, POET’s “pull” strategy involves motivating another customer segment, the corn farmers to seek out their brand to provide corncobs for the manufacture of cellulosic ethanol.
I encourage you to keep an eye on POET Energy’s marketing as they are connecting the dots between traditional media of targeted print ads, tv commercials and the usage of social media. You’ll find them on Twitter, Flickr, YouTUBE and Facebook.
Author: Bellana Putz
www.lessingflynn.com
