A relative newcomer and challenger brand, Channel® brand had a small but quickly growing market share as it built personal relationships with farmers across the country.
The brand had enjoyed years of steady growth and built a loyal customer base. But in 2019, that growth was starting to plateau. HLK was tasked with creating a new brand campaign for Channel that would improve consideration with prospective farmers and beat the big guys.
In general, farmers are slow to trust and hard to impress. Farmers don’t want to be sold to. They know every decision they make has a ripple effect across their entire farm. When they choose a new seed brand, their livelihoods are on the line.
We knew that for a prospective farmer to consider Channel, proven performance was paramount. And we needed to approach this new relationship the same way a Channel SeedPro would: with respect, integrity and some expert advice.
Previous campaigns touted the Channel brand’s service position. And while this focus on service and support resonated with current customers, primary research unearthed that the message wasn’t resonating with prospects.
We needed to more strongly connect service to the brand’s premium performance. So, we turned advertising space into advice space and showed how the service of our Channel SeedPros could pay off for the farmer in performance. We delivered advice in highly targeted ways, reaching our farmers in critical in-field moments. Then we drove them to a landing page tailored to them to request a visit to their field.
Our lead generation program drove more prospects than ever to our brand experience. We delivered educational content and incentives that drove farmers to request a Channel SeedPro visit their field. After two years of remaining stagnant, we saw an increase in content consumption and digital ads performed five times better. Together, HLK and Channel proved that advice delivers value beyond the seed bag.