Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – The Maine Potato Board has been so impressed with the response from its marketing campaign that the organization is going to extend its promotional efforts through April.
At the Jan. 17 Maine Potato Board meeting, directors voted to spend an additional $33,000 on print, radio and television advertisements.
“Our goal is to promote the image of the Maine Potato Board and the potato industry in southern Maine,” said Timothy Hobbs, director of development/grower relations for the Maine Potato Board. “We began running ads in November and we’ve received a huge response from people.
“I was at a trade show recently and people were telling me how great the ads were,” he said. “We’ve also received a ton of feedback from the Maine Legislature.”
The marketing campaign was launched in November to raise public awareness of the importance of the Maine potato industry and its impact on the state’s economy. Each year, the harvest yields over $30 million in tax revenue for Maine, $530 million in sales, and over $230 million in personal income.
In terms of employment, Maine potatoes account for over 6,100 jobs throughout the state in a variety of businesses both within the industry and in service to it.
“Our goal with this campaign is to make people take notice of an industry that has traditionally been overlooked in southern Maine,” said Donald Flannery, executive director of the Maine Potato Board. “Even though most of the farmers are located in northern Maine, the ripple effect can be felt throughout the state.
“Ultimately, we want people to support the industry – as well as to buy Maine potatoes – whenever possible,” he said.
Flannery said the Board has created three different print advertisements that are running in the Maine Sunday Telegram, as well as the weekend editions of the Kennebunk Journal, Lewiston Sun Journal and Bangor Daily News, as well as periodically in the local weekly newspapers.
Radio spots are also being featured in the southern Maine market.
“We’ll be doing sponsorships,” said Flannery. “It could be something like, ‘Today’s weather brought to you by the Maine Potato Board.’ They aren’t very expensive and it helps get our name out.”
Television ads also highlighted the importance of the potato industry.
“We’ve been doing TV ads for four years now,” Flannery said. “We run them 10 days before Thanksgiving and 10 days before Christmas.”
Recognizing that people in Aroostook County are more in tune with agriculture, Flannery said the goal is to remind people in southern Maine there’s more to the state’s economy than lobsters and tourism.
“Hopefully this campaign will build awareness,” he said, “so when people go into the stores they’ll look and ask for Maine potatoes. Also, people in Maine – outside of Aroostook County – have forgotten about agriculture to some degree, and have forgotten about the potato industry. We need to get those folks back in the fold remembering that agriculture is important, and that the potato industry is important to rural Maine.
“We want them to have that in their mind as we look at public policy into the future … everything from environmental issues to tax issues. Public polices and decisions that are made can affect agriculture in a very negative way, and we need to make sure we’re thinking about that,” said Flannery. “Maine is the way it is because of our natural resource-based industries … agriculture, forestry and fishing, and we need to make sure that we’re not putting the natural resource sector in a competitive disadvantage with public policy.”
Flannery told board members that the first day the Legislature was back in session earlier this month, he ran into someone on the agriculture committee who praised the board for its efforts.
“They said it was the best thing anyone’s done for agriculture in the state,” he said. “The response has been amazing and very positive.
“When we started this campaign,” said Flannery, “we said we’d try it for a while and use up the money we had budgeted. Our recommendation is to continue down that path.”
Hobbs told the board that the campaign would cost another $14,000 on TV ads, $12,000 for radio, and $7,000 for print, for a total of $33,000.
Director David McCrum of Mars Hill – though supportive of the campaign – questioned the need to continue it.
“You’re already getting a good response,” said McCrum. “Why keep going with it?”
Flannery explained that you have to “keep putting the message out there.”
“You have to keep it in front of them,” he said, noting that the reason for extending the campaign through April is that it coincides with the Legislative session. “The more you see it, you might mention it to someone else.
“We want people talking about us,” said Flannery, “and thinking that we’re good stewards.”
Director Andrew Yaeger supported spending the additional funds.
“When you’re halfway through something,” he said, “you might as well follow through with it full steam. It’s important to see it through.”
Board member Brent Buck agreed.
“If we’re this far in and getting positive feedback,” said Buck, “hopefully it will encourage other agricultural sectors to do the same.”
Also at the Jan. 17 board meeting, directors received an update on the recent National Potato Council and United States Potato Board meetings, and were notified that the new board members who will begin serving the Maine Potato Board in April include David Bartlett, seed; Erica Fitzpatrick, processor; Jeff Irving, grower/dealer; Brandon Roope, processing; and Todd Bradley, dealer.
The next Maine Potato Board meeting will be held at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 14 at the Maine Potato Board conference room in Presque Isle.
