Impact for a Brand at Steak

When you’re out on the town, indulging in a delicious steak or a juicy burger, your menu may state that you’re enjoying the Certified Angus Beef® brand. If you’re not sure what that means, you’re not alone. Certified Angus Beef (CAB) found that many of the independent distributors who sold their products didn’t know how to accurately present why the Certified Angus Beef® brand is a cut above the rest. They didn’t follow the recommended sales processes or even use the correct brand terms.

CAB needed to impact these distributors through a training course that clearly showed what makes the Certified Angus Beef® brand so great while convincing the learners to use the correct processes and terms. Enter AllenComm. We designed an award-winning course that would do everything CAB required.

Imagery with Impact

First off, any time food is involved, imagery is key. A big component of the Certified Angus Beef® brand is the way their cuts of beef look in comparison to competitors. The brand even has ten specifications that are used to judge meat before it can be sold under the Certified Angus Beef® brand. Most of those specifications are visual, and any imagery in the course had to align with them.

With that in mind, each image was selected carefully. Apart from the Certified Angus Beef® brand specifications, we found that some images of raw meat were coming across as unappetizing, thus distracting from the content, so we had to carefully consider where to use images of raw meat and where to use images of cooked meat.

Use of Correct Brand Terms

The Certified Angus Beef® brand has very specific guidelines about the way the brand should be referred to in writing or voiceover. There were also keywords and phrases that CAB wanted the distributors to use when making a sales pitch.

We included copy that explained to distributors exactly what to say and do—but we also upheld the brand standards in our own writing. With the words and phrases used correctly and built into the content throughout the course, distributors would not only be more likely to take the guidelines seriously but would also grow used to the terminology through the exposure.

Modeling

Throughout the course, we used a classic instructional technique: modeling. We realized that using the recommended terminology and sales processes wouldn’t come naturally to Certified Angus Beef® brand distributors. After all, if it did, they’d already been doing it. We needed to find a way to really get them to understand and be comfortable with the desired behaviors.

First, we modeled the behavior for the distributors. Then we gave them opportunities to explore and practice the desired behaviors. Finally, we had them put everything they learned together in a principal activity in the form of a video simulation. With the help of the model they’d seen and the information they’d learned, distributors would know how to ace the simulation.

In Conclusion

The next time you enjoy a juicy piece of Certified Angus Beef® brand meat, you’ll probably remember the brand information you learned in this article. The distributors who take our course will have a similar experience. The impact of the course design will make it easier for them to remember what they learned about the Certified Angus Beef® brand and use that each day as they sell to customers.