Kansas Wheat Commission

Delivering family time in the midst of a pandemic

Situation

With plans upended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kansas Wheat Commission (KWC) needed a new approach to their harvest blogger tour. In past years, the KWC blogger tour was designed to inform and educate the influencers who were well-known in the food/farm blog spheres and was a successful consumer outreach initiative for the organization.

Goal

Develop a new way to engage with consumer audiences amidst a global pandemic

Action

Our team realized that while the reach of the historical blogger campaign was sufficient, KWC could shift focus to a larger, untapped target audience that had little exposure to or established affinity for the Kansas wheat farmer and product.

We further researched purchasing behavior and channel preferences to determine our strategy and continued to consider how to create a greater impact with an audience we couldn’t interact with in-person. We decided to tap into the exciting yet practical formula of subscription boxes to create a more engaging relationship between wheat farmers and this audience. We developed two limited supply boxes, one with baking activities, the other with crafting activities.

To promote these boxes, we collaborated with Instagram micro-influencers located in Kansas that had an audience that matched our target audience and could authentically promote these boxes within their typical content. This cost-effective yet highly-targeted approach kept the overall campaign within the client’s budget.

“Consumers were baking and cooking at home more than ever during the pandemic, and we wanted to not only give them new ideas for using wheat foods, but also to share the story of Kansas wheat farmers. The Wheat State Crate project was a way for us to connect with these consumers. The subscription boxes gave them baking and art projects using wheat, and many of the recipients shared their experiences on social media, expanding the reach of the campaign.”

Marsha Boswell, Vice President of Communications

Outcome

Both crates sold out in less than 24 hours. 500 crates were sent to 18 states and the website received over 5,000 visits. On Instagram, posts from our micro-influencers made 111,288 impressions and reached 81,152 people. With this reach, we were able to gain nationwide recognition for Kansas wheat farmers, establishing shared values and affinity between otherwise very different people.

Awards & Honors

NAMA Award
2020 NAMA Awards
National Best of NAMA Finalist
NAMA Award
2020 NAMA Region II Best of Show
Consumer Audiences
NAMA Award
2020 NAMA Region II First Place
Company or Producer-Funded PR Campaign Directed to Consumers

Project Recap

Client
Kansas Wheat Commission Logo
Industries
Agriculture
Services

Research & Strategy
Branding & Identity
Digital Experiences
Campaign Development
Events & Activation

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