Behind the Chutes
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with Susan Bedford
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Brand Awareness
[2003-2007]
T
he word “brand” can have so many different meanings, especially in an industry such as ours. You brand your cattle. You build your brand. You ride for the brand. All the various meanings of these five little letters are important if you’re looking to be successful as a bucking bull breeder or stock contractor. A brand is how you make your mark and let the world know what is important to you and what belongs to you. For most people in our industry, their brand starts literally with the branding of their calves. The calves then carry your mark and they represent your program. Once those calves make a name for themselves or generate press, they are helping to build your brand. You then typically want to align yourself with other brands that will help further your brand. This can be done through partnering, working with corporate companies on naming and sponsoring bulls, marketing and advertising, charity work…the list is literally endless. There are so many ways to get your name out there by working alongside other brands. We appreciate all of our members who are a part of the ABBI brand. Our mission and goal is to help promote and raise the value of your brand. We know this in turn raises ours as well, and we both benefit from an increased public profile. We are fortunate to have so many loyal members who have supported us and our events for the last eight years.
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The American Bucking Bull q Jan/Feb 2011
We are a success because we have so many members who get involved, promote the sport and ride for the brand. “Ride for the Brand” is also the ABBI staff motto and something we take very seriously. But we also know without the loyal members who support us, we’d be pretty lonely in the saddle. We realize that our members literally put their money where their mouth is—we are the biggest bucking cattle DNA registry and competitive bucking bull organization in the world due to more than just lip service. We appreciate those people who have faith in us, our brand and what we are trying to accomplish. Brand is a term thrown around in marketing and advertising quite a bit. Companies pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for experts to “brand” their product. This typically starts with design (a logo, a specific color and font for the company’s name, etc.) and can eventually reach over into things as specific as the employee’s uniforms and the type of hand soap in the restroom! While I certainly hope no one in our industry ever goes that “brand conscious,” it does pay to keep in mind that every rig, magazine ad or flank man wearing a shirt with your name and/or logo on it represents you and builds an impression—positive or negative. And when it comes to building your brand through advertising, it helps to remember that advertising isn’t actually about selling something, it is about making an impression. And a good impression may not lead to an immediate sale, but down the line it can lead to a long-term
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