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FoodChain ID | Raising Brand Recognition and Lead Generation Under a Tight Deadline

Consumer & Retail, Technology & Innovation, Public Relations

Challenge
Objectives
Solution
Results

Challenge

FoodChain ID, an industry-leading provider of food safety, quality and sustainability services to the global agrifoods industry, sought support to quickly escalate lead generation for organizations that need certification assistance to be compliant with the USDA’s new Strengthening Organic Enforcement (SOE) Rule mandates. There was tremendous urgency to reach, engage, educate and convert prospective customers – our engagement began only 47 days before the new USDA rule went into effect.

Objectives

With a short timeframe in front of us, the opportunity and objective was clear. The USDA estimated 4,000 to 5,000 companies would need new certification to achieve compliance. FoodChain ID experts said the net change in USDA National Organic Program (NOP) certified organic operations in the United States was essentially zero over the past three months prior to our engagement signaling potential for a crisis. With the USDA deadline looming, our objective was to reach organizations and decision-makers and underscore the sense of urgency for them to take definitive steps toward becoming compliant. To achieve this goal, our objectives were to increase brand awareness through compelling messaging to drive awareness, generate more qualified leads, and to increase market share.

Solution

Pierpont executed a two-pronged strategy: brand awareness through proactive media relations and improved messaging for an aggressive email and social media campaign. For the PR execution, Pierpont noted that news coverage of the new USDA rule mostly occurred almost a year before the deadline with no recent updates. Leveraging FoodChain ID’s knowledge that a substantial number of companies had not yet acted to become compliant, our pitch highlighted a warning, implications, and immediate next steps for impacted organizations. Messaging for proactive media outreach was aligned with the email and social media campaigns.

Results

Pierpont secured media coverage with the most prominent food industry outlets including Food Business News, Agriculture Dive, Food Dive and a bylined article for Food Industry Executive. Securing coverage with nine target media outlets. The sum of their websites’ unique visitors per month (UVM) is an estimated 1.9 million-plus readers. Pierpont also rewrote an email campaign, social media headlines and content, resulting in significantly improved open and engagement rates. We also performed outreach to attendees of an industry trade show, as well as recommendations for message elevation for target websites.

After the USDA deadline passed, our client praised Pierpont’s work, saying they exceeded their lead generation goals.