The information stored in our cookies does not directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalized web experience. Because we respect your right to privacy, you can choose not to allow some types of cookies. However, blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer.
HELDEN VAN ONZE VELDEN
The Flemish Centre for Agro and Fisheries Marketing (VLAM) promotes local agriculture, horticulture, fisheries and agri-food products and services. In 2022 they launched an informative campaign to raise consumer awareness about Flemish farmers’ sustainability efforts, which often go unnoticed.
The campaign ran from 2022 to 2024 and we made sure it got the attention it deserved with an always on PR approach. We ensured constant media presence and gave a boost to the public’s knowledge & opinion about the theme. This emphasized the industry’s role in the climate debate and the European “Farm to Fork” strategy.
We developed the overarching concept “Heroes of our fields” or “Helden van onze velden” in Flemish. In short, we informed Flemish consumers about the sustainability efforts made by Flemish farmers (the heroes of our fields) in the potato, fruit and vegetable industry. We highlighted heroic stories, from field to plate.
We started off by digging for these heroic stories by being in constant talks with stakeholder organizations and interest groups such as VITO, Inagro, ILVO and Boerenbond, as well as with the farmers themselves. Once these stories were clear, we focused on social content for B2B, creating a LinkedIn content calendar, filling it with interesting facts, illustrations and explaining videos. Next to that we organized a yearly stakeholder event to showcase the efforts of the industry even more.
When it comes to B2C, we made sure to get the public’s attention through broad media coverage. We wrote advertorials but also landed those hard earned opinion pieces & news articles.
farm visits
Over the course of this 3 year campaign, we organized at least 20 farm visits, for well over 50 journalists, who interviewed innovative, future proof farmers. This way every topic and every Flemish region was covered numerous times. Next to that we created press releases focusing on the sustainable innovations in the industry. As most of the sustainable initiatives by these Flemish farmers were already ongoing, we used top topicals to pitch them to press. This worked like a charm: no fewer than 27 farmers saw their sustainability efforts highlighted. Top topicals included for example “week of the bee”, “week of the endives” and “earth overshoot day”. This way we ensured to give Flanders an insight into the sustainable efforts these heroes of our fields deliver every day.
The numbers? From 2022 to 2024 this resulted in a total of 202 clippings with a total ad value of € 2,458,436.
- Increase awareness about Flemish farmers’ sustainability efforts
- Develop and create PR hooks around Flemish farmers’ sustainability efforts
- Establish VLAM in the Belgian media landscape with focus on the sustainability efforts of the Flemish farmers
- Ensure constant media coverage about the subject through top topicals
- Position VLAM as a specialist on the topic
- Copywriting & editing of press releases
- Organizing farm visits for journalists
- Creating social content for B2B
- Organization of a stakeholder event to showcase the efforts of the industry