Through Excellence.
I
By Jeri Tulley
mperial Wagyu Beef has partnered with Rebel, a digital branding agency, to update its brand in order to clarify Imperial’s purpose and to tell its story of creating and selling the best American Wagyu beef without compromise. Tami Tibben, President and Partner for Imperial, explained their new tagline Excellence, Elevated as, “We really want to elevate each aspect in our program…elevating the standards that we expect in the cattle we purchase, the bulls that are used, and in our feed yards, elevating standards on safety expected at the plant and the consistency and quality…anything and everything that we can do to create that WOW experience.” The Imperial Program starts with the producers elevating their cattle breed, distributors elevating their beef offerings, chefs elevating their plates, and consumers elevating their taste. Based in Omaha, Nebraska, Imperial is celebrating its 10th anniversary by hosting an invitation-only “Behind the Scenes” event for their customers, producers, chefs and associates. The event will offer guests a welcome reception, a guided hayrack ride through one of Imperial’s original partnering feed yards, and three interactive educational sessions. For the finale, one of Imperial’s chef partners has teamed up with a nearby college’s culinary division to provide a five-course dinner featuring Imperial Wagyu. Tami says, “A lot of our ranchers and producers don’t get a chance to enjoy our product often, and this gives them an opportunity to taste what they are part of.” With the main focus of bringing people together to allow them to see their own role in the program, Imperial wants to give those in its program an in-depth understanding of the supply chain and also an opportunity to connect with each other. Imperial believes that excellence in every step is vital to achieving the elevated, premium product they desire to offer to their consumers. Besides a new tagline and updating the content on their website and on social media, Imperial updated its logo. After hearing from customers that its old logo was Japanese-toned and possibly misleading to some, Imperial upgraded its image to be cleaner, crisper, and to include the words “American Wagyu Beef.” Tami stated, “It is important for us to be transparent with everyone so that we have their trust. Page 18 >>
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Wagyu World | September / October 2018