We learned last week that the South Dakota Wheat Growers selected Paulsen Marketing as their agency of record after a formal review that included three viable Midwestern ag agencies. We are absolutely thrilled with this new assignment and the entire agency is eagerly looking forward to beginning the branding, public relations and media work with them.

The Wheat Growers have a long, respected history that goes back to 1926. For the past 84 years they have served farmers in northern, central and eastern South Dakota, and south central North Dakota, as a leading agronomy and grain marketing cooperative. In fact, they have grown very rapidly in recent years to become one of the top five revenue-producing businesses in the state of South Dakota and one of the largest local member-owned cooperative systems in the U.S. today.

In preparation for our Wheat Growers presentation, agency CEO Thane Paulsen and I spent an entire June day touring much of their service area. We were impressed with the size and scope of Wheat Growers operations including grain storage and transportation facilities, fertilizer storage and equipment, and general agronomy facilities.

In addition, the Wheat Growers have an ambitious facilities expansion program currently underway that will enable them to serve their members even more effectively and efficiently in the near future. The capital investment they are making in their facilities and operations is impressive.

During our day of “agri-fact finding,” Thane and I discovered the size of most farming operations in the Wheat Growers service area has grown dramatically in recent years. We saw lots of “big iron” in the fields as farmers were putting the finishing touches on getting the soybeans in the ground. We estimated the average size of most of these farms to be between 3,000 and 4,000 acres, with many greatly exceeding that figure.

We also came to the realization that these producers have a huge investment and sizable risk in their operations. It became clear that a strong full-service agronomy and grain marketing cooperative is essential in helping these producers succeed in today’s big business of farming.

Our 500+ mile tour was extremely helpful in better understanding the Wheat Growers’ operations and the members they serve. I know it really energized us and inspired us to create one of our best-ever new business presentations.
It was truly a team effort with all aspects of Paulsen Marketing involved in the pitch.

The news of our win was so gratifying. And now, we’re ready to get to work on behalf of our new client!

Last week we held the First Annual Paulsen County Fair.  It included an all-present “State of the Agency Report”,  (highlighting one of the agency’s best years ever), unveiling of our awesome new web site and new agency identity materials, a wonderful barbeque dinner, games and prizes for all employees and their families and an incredible show of agency talent at Karoke. A grand time was had by all.  Special thanks to Katie Levitt, associate creative director, and Kristie Weiberg, senior art director for their months of hard work and planning to make the Paulsen County Fair such a huge success.

Also should mention that several promotions were...

Welcome to the new Paulsen Marketing web site and to our new blog, aptly titled “On the Road.”

We have the opportunity to travel a great deal, both regionally and nationally, as our clients can be found across the country.

Through this blog, we’ll share our thoughts and impressions of the places we travel and the people we meet. We promise to keep it interesting, insightful and authentic.

In fact, “authentic” is the single-word description that best defines our agency.

- Authentic creative and strategic recommendations for our clients.

- Authentic people.

- Authentic relationships with our...