Marketing Customized for You

By Casey Reynolds, PhD

If you had the resources to work with a national marketing agency to promote your sod farm and could ensure that consumers in your area and around the country could understand the many benefits of natural grass, would you take advantage of that opportunity? Now is your chance. One of the highest priorities of the U.S. Sod Checkoff is promoting sod to consumers and increasing the preference for natural grass.

How Would a Sod Checkoff Work?

A board of sod producers, nominated by fellow sod producers like you, will invest checkoff dollars in local and national advertising, agronomic and consumer research, promotional kits that can be customized and localized by growers, and customer and regulator education and outreach, all to increase the value of every square foot of sod in the U.S.

Promoting Sod

Here are just a few of the high-impact programs the Sod Checkoff can bring to life. • Working with nationally recognized brands and influencers to expand the checkoff’s reach. • Partnering with youth sports associations to promote playing fields made of locally grown, natural grass sod. • Marketing and advertising campaigns targeting consumers and customers, including sports field managers, city managers, golf courses, and school systems. • Creating promotional toolkits that you can easily customize to promote your product locally. Using images such as these on your social media platforms reach those already “following” you.

Now imagine the greater impact eye catching images like those and the one below would make as advertising on your local or regional television station and/or on area billboards and—for the “Real is Better” image below—in football stadium signage, and/or in the printed game day football programs of local high school and community college teams. U.S. Sod Checkoff funding could make that happen!

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT THE U.S. SOD CHECKOFF, PLEASE VISIT WWW.SODCHECKOFF.ORG.

Casey Reynolds, PhD, is executive director of Turfgrass Producers International.