Nebraska Corn Board

The Nebraska Corn Board (NCB) is a state agency devoted to promoting the value of corn by creating opportunities through research, communication, market development and education.

A significant arm of NCB’s communication strategy is the CornsTalk — a campaign designed to connect with the state’s consumers and showcase the impact of Nebraska’s corn industry. In past years, the CornsTalk has existed solely as a print publication inserted in newspapers across the state three times yearly.

Our mission: Transform the “CornsTalk newsletter” into a digital-first consumer campaign.

Over the course of two years, we’ve covered a variety of key topics including (but not limited to) agriculture’s carbon footprint, GMOs, animal health, careers in agriculture and value-added corn products.

In the first half of 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic descended, we teamed up with NCB to tackle a colossal issue: sustainability in agriculture. We set out to demonstrate that the ag industry is not only taking action to achieve global sustainability, it is experiencing results. Every year, Nebraska farmers are growing more with less — less water, fewer chemicals and a lower impact on the environment.

We continued to wrestle coronavirus complications throughout the summer and fall of 2020, when we partnered with CommonGround and the Nebraska Soybean Board to produce one of the most informative and multimedia-packed consumer campaigns in CornsTalk history: “Facts, Not Fear.”

Most recently, we developed a unique campaign specifically for Nebraska’s next generation of leaders to examine the diverse array of careers in the agriculture sector across disciplines such as business, communications, policy, finance, technology and science. “Growing Season” scaled back on print deliverables to focus on interactive content in the form of videos, podcast episodes and more.

The Consumer

As Cornhuskers, Nebraska consumers are uniquely bonded with the state’s top agricultural commodity. But while Nebraskans may be born to cheer on the Huskers, they don’t come into the world with a deep understanding of corn’s global significance.

Corn represents cleaner-burning fuel. An eco-friendly bioplastic solution. A vital source of food, fiber and feed for both humans and livestock.

With the spring 2020 CornsTalk campaign, we were on a mission to connect earth-conscious Nebraska consumers with the powerful story of agriculture’s regenerative character, while dispelling common misconceptions about the industry’s carbon footprint.

More recently in spring 2021, we shifted the target audience of our campaign to focus on Nebraska’s next generation of leaders. This includes students in high school and college who are exploring potential college plans and career paths.

Strategy and Tactics

In developing each CornsTalk campaign, distilling complex issues into clear facts and engaging visuals is critical.

Our team regularly transforms pages of research and expert interviews into compelling creative to shed light on topics such as cover crops, irrigation, cow manure and pollinator habitats. The “Sustainability” campaign, for example, translated and reframed existing scientific research into content that was digestible and compelling for the average human.

Brought to life with striking, relatable imagery, the CornsTalk print publication typically houses stories written to dispel common misconceptions about agriculture or showcase important efforts taking place across the ag sector to conserve natural resources, increase food safety and more. The print publication is distributed in newspapers across Nebraska and positioned as one slice of a wider mixed media campaign.

Each CornsTalk series lives online at NECornsTalk.com — an ever-evolving content hub designed to showcase consumer campaign content in the form of stories, infographics, photography, videos, podcasts and more.

To promote our online materials, we produce a content calendar for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram — complemented by a paid media strategy targeting Nebraska consumers disconnected from the farm.

For our “Sustainability” campaign, we captured a wider audience by integrating paid digital tactics like Google display ads with more traditional methods such as sponsored articles in the Omaha World-Herald.

Video is often a key component of each consumer campaign. The “Facts, Not Fear” campaign was headlined by a seven-part video series designed to take millennials on a sequence of virtual farm tours. From GMOs to greenhouse gases to antibiotics and hormones, each episode focused on dispelling common misconceptions related to a specific topic.

More recently, our “Growing Season” campaign was headlined by a cinematic video showcasing the breadth of untold careers available across the agriculture sector.

We leverage our digital CornsTalk deliverables to test which content resonates best with our audiences for little to no cost — which pays off in future consumer campaigns.

Results

CornsTalk campaigns highlight topics farmers are proud of, while addressing concerns many consumers have about the ag industry — and it shows.

“Sustainability”

400,000 Nebraskans reached on Facebook

16 million impressions earned across all digital platforms

The Sustainability CornsTalk digital series was also recognized by the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) with a first place award for best “website directed to consumers” at the Region II competition in January 2021. The campaign qualified for the national competition in July 2021.

“Facts, Not Fear”

30,000 total views on YouTube

1 million impressions earned on Facebook

"Growing Season"

Within just a few weeks of launching, “Growing Season” achieved the following:

41,000 views on YouTube

100,000 Spotify listeners reached

Set to deliver 1.6 million impressions

While each edition of the CornsTalk is designed to match a specific theme, we work hard to ensure our content isn’t contained to a “shelf life.” Instead, it’s poised to remain meaningful for years to come.