Entries for the beef checkoff-funded Fourth Annual Retail Beef Backer Awards are now being accepted until October 29, 2010. Supermarket retailers of all sizes and formats are encouraged to enter the contest, and anyone (excluding employees of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association) can nominate a participating retailer to win an award.
Retail Beef Backer winners are selected based on their excellent marketing and merchandising of beef at the meat case. Each retailer is encouraged to participate by sharing their beef story, describing how beef sales and demand have grown as a result of your efforts in one or more of the following three areas.
•Promotions- Promotions include shorter lived merchandising efforts (i.e. summer grilling or holiday promotions, advertising campaigns). Be sure to highlight any participation in beef checkoff-funded promotions.
•Programs- Programs refer to the adoption or maintenance of longer lived initiatives (i.e. launching a new product(s), adoption of a new program such as nutrition labeling, Easy Fresh Cooking®, Hispanic marketing, and employee training programs). Be sure to include any beef checkoff-funded programs that are utilized in your operation.
•Activities- Activities include marketing, public relations or industry events, participation in beef checkoff-funded pilot tests, surveys or any other activity that adds value to your beef program.
Awards will be given in the below categories
•Independent Retailer – fewer than 11 retail stores
•Mid-Size Chain Retailer – 11-99 retail stores
•Large Chain Retailer- 100 or more retail stores
•Innovator of the Year
Tips for creating a winning Beef Backer Entry
Beef it up! Tell the judges your beef story. You may also provide any relevant beef merchandising materials which demonstrate your complete beef program including promotions, programs, activities and anything that helps the judges get to know you and learn about the great efforts your operation is taking to support beef. This could include, but is not limited to, point-of-sale materials, staff and/or customer educational materials, videos, photos of beef displays or events, beef-related advertising and publicity efforts, community outreach programs or any additional information to document your sales efforts (expressed as percentage increases, not actual sales dollars). All information is kept confidential and will not be shared with outside parties.
Source: The Beef Checkoff
