Examining and Reaching a Changing Audience

During last week's World Pork Expo the National Pork Board held a news conference to share how the Pork Checkoff will be repositioning its marketing domestically.

National Pork Board CEO Bill Even shares some the insights gleaned through their research about the Millennial generation — which has surpassed the Baby Boomers as the nation's largest generation— and their likes, wants and desires surrounding their food choices.

"The millennials have asked us in the ag industry, 'We're not so sure that the food system that was built in the post-WWII era is the food system we'd like to have and see going forward.' That is where you see the rise of people having concerns of what is in their food, what's on the label, is it fresh and is it local — those sort of things. That is all legitimate and being driven by this new generation. The entire food industry is trying to understand that are the implications of that and how do we continue to meet those consumer demands in a fashion that is still safe, affordable and abundant but goes that extra mile and make them feel guiltless about consuming pork as a product. I think that is one of the fundamental components that we are looking at with our marketing overall."

The repositioning will focus on three the Ms — the Millennials, Mobile and multicultural audiences.