Dive into Education

To me, the similarities are high between the two. Educating consumers is promoting the product, and when I see promotion, there is typically an education proponent to it. I learned sometimes promoting includes educating consumers.

One of the biggest parts surrounding educating is educating consumers about the nutrition and environmental aspects of beef. The beef checkoff wants to work on enhancing beef's image.

Sometimes this means speaking directly to consumers, but a lot of the time, it is working with dietitians, chefs, nutritionists and media. Then those people work to promote our product.

A perfect example of this is going on right now - Twin Cities Live 12 Days of Grilling. The beef checkoff has helped educate chefs about beef nutrition. Combined with their real life knowledge, the chefs are able to promote our product.

Another example of consumer education is the Minnesota State Fair. This is about directly educating the consumers through personally connecting producers working the booth and consumers wandering the State Fair. 

I am super excited for the fair this year and have been hard at work preparing promotional items and educational handouts. 

This week, I learned education and promotion often go hand-in-hand. The two must perfectly work together for consumers to hear more about our product.