Just back this week from the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) conference in Kansas City. I must say it was one of the best annual NAMA meetings I’ve attended in my 34 years in this industry. My compliments to Marjorie Walker, Conference Chair; Les Kahl, Best of NAMA Chair; Micheal DeLuca, Chair of the Connections Point Trade Show and Curt Blades, Careers Committee Chair for an outstanding job with the planning and programming that went into this event. NAMA Executive Director Jenny Pickett and her very capable NAMA staff deserve credit for a job well done, as well.

Paulsen Marketing was well represented with six of us in attendance. We were especially proud of our three First Place Best of NAMA Awards. Those awards went to:

• Kubota Tractor Corporation for Multi-media Campaign Directed to the Rural Lifestyle Audience
• Walters Gardens for their Perennial Resource Web Site in the category of Web Site, Educational Focus, Directed to Consumers
• Paulsen Marketing in the category of Corporate Identity for our own logo/letterhead package

Considering the caliber of companies and agencies competing, and the exceptionally high quality of creative work entered, we are indeed honored to be recognized with our three first place awards.

The keynote speakers and break out sessions were some of the best I can recall. Our folks came away with relevant and meaningful ideas to apply to our real world challenges.

But as usual, the networking and social aspects of the conference were most enjoyable. It’s always fun to reconnect with friends and colleagues in the business, learn what’s new and how folks are coping with the accelerated change we all are facing. As I’ve said before, these indeed are interesting times in which we live.

We’ve received excellent feedback on our recent agri-media research report, “The New Ag Media Model: Conventional + Contemporary Strategies.” A surprising number of people have downloaded the report from our Web site. If you haven’t had a chance to take a look, go to www.agribranding.com and see what farmers are saying about their media preferences for gathering information as part of their purchasing process. Be sure to let me know if you have any questions about this research.

Congratulations to Kubota Tractor Corporation on their First Place Best of NAMA Award for Rural Lifestyle Multi-media Campaign. Pictured here, (left to right) Mike Dowling, VP, Creative Director; Myrna Montague, Marketing Support Manager, Kubota Tractor Corp; Peggy Horkan, Marketing Communications Manager, Kubota Tractor Corp; Marcus Squier, Account Executive; Greg Guse, President; Alicia DeGeest, Account Supervisor; and Sara Steever, VP, Director of Interactive Services.

A group of seven Paulsen-ites attended the Region III “Best of NAMA” awards banquet in Minneapolis last Thursday, and we were not at all disappointed with the results—six First Place Awards and five Merit Awards. Here’s a quick recap:

Merit Awards
New Product Introduction, Pet Medicus, Inc.
Advertising Campaign to Rural Lifestyle Audience, Kubota Tractor Corporation
Unique Print Advertising, WildBlue Communications
Internet Web Site, Educational Focus—Walters Gardens
Less Than Page Ad Series, Ridley Nutrition Solutions

First Place Awards
Customer...

In an earlier blog entry, I noted our agency's stance on awards—the best award is an increase in our clients' sales or market share as a result of the work we create for them. But when significant awards come our way, we're not shy about celebrating them. I'm proud to list the following wins:

First, at the National Agri-Marketing Association's  "Best of NAMA" awards ceremony, Paulsen Marketing was recognized with both a Merit and First Place national award. This event was the kick-off to NAMA's national conference held recently in Atlanta.

The Merit Award went to WildBlue Communications in the category of Multi-Media Campaign Directed to...

I'd like to express our appreciation to the Iowa Chapter of the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) for their invitation to have our agency present an interesting case history for one of our clients, WildBlue High Speed Satellite Internet, as their April meeting program. Special thanks to Roxi Beck, chapter president, and Stephanie Vinton-Pollock, for their wonderful hospitality during our visit.

Our associate creative director Katie Levitt and media director Kristi Moss did an excellent job in sharing the creative rationale and strategic thought behind the WildBlue "Out Here" campaign. The combined topics of high speed satellite delivered via satellite to rural America,...

Last week, eleven agency members and two Paulsen clients braved brutally frigid temperatures for the trek to Des Moines for the Region III Best of NAMA Awards Banquet. We’re glad we made the effort, as our agency was recognized with eight First Place awards, and four Merit awards-- Paulsen Marketing’s best showing ever.

More about the specific awards in a minute, but first a little perspective. 

Our agency believes the best awards are tangible results for our clients from the work we create. Nothing is more gratifying than to know our work generated an increase in sales or market share, or that in collaboration with our clients, we created more viable...