On Friday I was reading a Wall Street Journal article on possible Iranian weapons being sent into Iraq when I saw this surround session online ad buy by La Cense Beef. Yes a Montana cattle ranch is using banner ads combined with search ads to sell their premium beef via the internet. I think I've seen it all now.
What originally caught my eye was not the creative which was tastefully done, but the fact that the media purchased was on the Wall Street Journal which historically has very high ad rates and given the assumption that it wasn't contextually targeted (Iranian weapons may not have been the chosen content for a beef campaign) you have to assume that they have a pretty savvy media buyer. I didn't see a print ad in the WSJ (I could have missed it), but assuming there isn't one you have to make the assumption that La Cense Beef made a brilliant decision to go online instead of wasting dollars on a newspaper campaign.
The website is well done with great imagery and great information including some good promotions to get you going. However, what kept me thinking was - how much is the cost per acquisition in order to afford an ad buy on the Wall Street Journal? Well one look at the price of their products you can see how they can afford this ad buy.
12 steak burgers weighing in at 4.5 pounds for $40.46 plus shipping is quite high. How about a ribeye at 9.5 ounces for $18.88 plus shipping? Yes I understand from their well designed site that grass fed beef is better for you as well as the open ranged cattle and I seriously considered buying it just because I wanted to test it out. However, I spoke with my father who told me that it might not taste as good as what I can get locally because they need to freeze it to ship it to you and beef cells lose something when frozen. I looked on their FAQ for something to combat this, but didn't find anything other than their guarantee.
I hope La Cense's online advertising campaign produces results for them. It is great to see a non-Fortune 500 company using their ad dollars so wisely. Clearly targeting the readers of the WSJ was a key segment for them and going online where you can track it and get demonstrated results is the way to go. Personally with my father's advice I couldn't pull the trigger because it is a little expensive to test out and waste by keeping it in the freezer. I really hope they succeed.
PardonMyFrench,
Eric
I have to say that I have ordered LaCense Beef's premium steaks online and it tastes better than anything I have found locally. In addition, it is often hard to find grass fed beef locally. While I do work for them, I have to tell you that the reason I honestly keep ordering their meat is because not only do they offer healthy, grass fed, antibiotic free meat, but they also have a really tasty product.
Posted by: Norma Mary Fay | August 29, 2010 at 02:42 PM