Pat Jackson: Digital Agribusiness Thought Leader

Alexis Daugherty · Mackenzie Gray · Hunter Holton ·

Ginny McGowan · Rachel Rhodes

Executive Summary

Pat Jackson is a global leader in the agribusiness industry sector whose area of expertise

ranges from growth strategy to operating model designs to digital innovation across the

agribusiness value chain. He has over 20 years of experience in the digital agribusiness sector

and has became a dependable source that his clients look to in order to optimize their approach

into global markets. Digital agribusiness is rapidly growing and evolving and Pat would like to

make sure he is on the forefront of this exciting trend.

Our goal is to further expand Pat’s position as an industry leader by establishing him as a

thought leader in the digital agribusiness sector. In order to reach this goal we will launch a PR

campaign that highlights Pat and his knowledge of the industry. Because of the large, untapped

market of smaller family farms, we will be targeting our communications toward this segment.

The campaign has a four-week launch window composed of multiple tactics, including

speaking engagements at the National FFA Convention and Iowa State University, a social

media partnership with John Deere, and a demonstration of his digital products on a real farm in

front of the media and local community. All of this will be completed with an impressively

small budget of $50,000, allocated towards the tactics mentioned above. To ensure that we know

that this campaign will be a success, we have set out an evaluation plan that involves different

methods of measuring our success before, during and after our campaign to leave Pat at the

forefront of the global digital agribusiness industry.

Situation Analysis

It is our mission to bring Pat Jackson, a partner of Ernst & Young, to the forefront of

people’s minds when they think about the Digital Agribusiness Industry. Pat leads his firm’s

agribusiness sector globally and focuses on strategy, transformation and mergers and

acquisitions for many of his firm’s clients in the agribusiness and food sectors. Pat works

directly with his client executives, helping them strategize, design, and implement the

appropriate operating model for their business, including portfolio management, precision

agriculture, marketing and merchandising. Pat has experience on many accounts ranging from

agri-retail to grain processing and seed. He is a knowledgeable leader on many topics that are

crucial to the future of global and market-leading companies.

In order to best position Pat as a thought leader in the global agribusiness sector, it was

necessary to conduct thorough research on the industry, including trends, problems, and

opportunities that we could potentially leverage. The global agribusiness industry is still in its

early stages of development. However, as the world’s population—and more specifically the

middle class—is growing, the need for increased farming efficiency is growing at a rapid rate.

Currently, there are three trends driving the shift towards digitization: growing consumer

demand in developing markets, the need for transparent and sustainable food supply chains, and

the need to manage supply and price volatility (Strothkämper). Digital agribusiness can improve

profitability by generating detailed insights into the environment while assisting farmers in

making “data-based operational decisions” (Mathur et al.). These decisions will boost revenue

while minimizing risks such as crop failure and environmental impact. With this technology,

farmers have the ability to make better real time operational decisions and can increase their

overall productivity by 10% per acre (Mathur et al.).

Problem and Opportunities

Although the benefits of this shift to digital agribusiness are evident, currently less than

20% of farmland uses the high-tech digital techniques that the increase in population calls for

(Mathur et al.). This is mainly because it is expensive to adopt the technology. Many farmers are

stuck in their ways and feel no need or desire to digitize and change their routine. This industry

also requires a deep understanding of the “specific crops, geographies, and complex value chains

that encompass seed and other inputs” (Mathur et al.)—an understanding that most farmers don’t

have. These obstacles, however, present opportunities for our firm and for Pat Jackson.

Pat has over 20 years of experience within this industry and can offer his ideas,

knowledge, and advice to any farmer or corporation looking to digitize. He can help these

organizations with many different aspects of the digital side of agribusiness including growth

strategy, operations, model design, and digital innovation. His hands-on approach is valuable

within the industry and proves that he has what it takes to be the respected and sought after

thought leader at the forefront of the industry. He had done all of the hard work, it is our job put

him in the spotlight.

Campaign Goals

The overarching goal of the campaign is to establish Jackson as an expert and thought

leader in the global agribusiness industry in order to advance his career and standing. Jackson

specifically wants to amplify his expertise in digital agribusiness, as this is an exciting and

growing industry. In order to translate the overarching goal into something that is more Specific,

Measurable, Attributable, Reasonable and Timely (SMART), we recognized three outcomes that

would result from Jackson being recognized as an industry leader: high name recognition, high

mention rate in trade and mass media, and a high number of customers seeking his services.

Thus, the following SMART goals for the campaign are proposed:

● 25% rise in name recognition among industry players two weeks after the campaign is

completed

● 50% rise in number of businesses and farmers seeking his digital services within a year

● 75% rise in mentions of Jackson’s name in trade and mass media at the end of the 4-week

period

The 25% rise in name recognition is significant yet realistic when taking into account

how many industry players there are, from large farms, to thousands of small farms, to suppliers

and tech companies. We also believe that the 50% rise in the number of businesses and farmers

seeking his services is both lofty but attainable, as Jackson already receives many requests for his

services but wants to raise it to a higher, yet manageable level. Finally, because the campaign is

very communications-focused and will be utilizing the press, we expect that there will be a large

rise in name mentions in trade and mass media, so a 75% rise is an appropriate goal.

With goals that have specific, easily measurable numbers, the campaign can be monitored

for success both during and after implementation. This will be discussed more in-depth in the

evaluation section of the report.

Audience Objectives

In the agribusiness space, there are a number of stakeholders. First, the farmers, who

consist of those who own individual family farms, and those who work for, are contracted by, or

own large farm corporations. Next are those who are further down the distribution chain, namely

tech companies, traditional agricultural suppliers, and distributors. While this campaign will

seek to generate attention from all potential audiences in the agribusiness space, it will be most

beneficial for us to target the audience of smaller family-owned farms. This is because there is a

large white space in the farm consulting market that Jackson can fill: individual-owned farms

make up 90% of the nation’s farms, yet all major agribusiness consultants do not offer services

to them (“Fact Check”; Accenture). So, by focusing on Jackson’s flexibility to work with clients

of all sizes, he will not be seen as a corporate “sell-out,” but as an unbiased industry leader.

Another benefit of focusing on the smaller farm audience during the campaign is that this will

help lead Jackson into the global agribusiness market well because most international farms

remain small (especially in Africa and Asia).

The average individual family farmer

loves what (s)he does, but has a lot of anxiety

and confusion toward where the industry is

going in the future. According to the USDA,

while the US’s total farmland has stayed

about the same, in the last 100 years, the

number of farms has decreased from 7 million

to a little over 2 million and the average

acreage per farm has increased from 180 acres

to 420 acres. This trend is the result of a cycle in which consultants offer their services only to

the largest farmers, who use the insights to become more efficient and thus buy up smaller farms.

In fact, though small farmers make up 90% of all farmers, they are largely inefficient and only

produce 25% of the nation’s food and fiber (“Fact Check”). This cycle has left the farmers of

smaller farms feeling left behind. Some feel that they are one bad harvest away from being

bought by a larger farm. While some individual farmers may be stuck in their ways or unaware

of new farming tactics, many want to take advantage of the new technology on the market, but

they just do not know how to use or implement it. Still others are afraid of the up-front cost of

implementing the new technology.

In order to best capture this audience’s attention, the campaign will use emotional

messaging that draws attention to the food shortage crisis and the shrinking number of farms.

However, the campaign will position family farmers as the heroes that will save the world from

this crisis, but only if they get “smarter” by using technology to optimize their crops. Jackson

will be positioned as the “expert” who will deliver the technology to all farmers, regardless of

size, and make it accessible and easy-to-use. By using emotional pulls, it will cause those who

are less than excited about new technology to become more interested. To address financial

concerns, the long-term payoff of investing in the technology will also be emphasized. For

example, if a farmer decides to invest in digital services to analyze and increase efficiency in his

crops, his profitability can increase up to $100/acre (Accenture). Over the long-term, it pays for

itself!

Tactics

In order to fully establish Pat Jackson as a thought leader within the Global Digital

Agribusiness Industry, several tactics must be implemented to maximize the impact of the

campaign.

First, Jackson will attend and speak at the national FFA convention where he will also

have a booth set up to answer questions after the speaking engagement. The FFA is the Future

Farmers of America organization, which gives Jackson an opportunity to talk to the next

generation of farmers and illustrate the benefits of digital agribusiness. In order to inform people

of the speaking engagement and generate a larger crowd, a press release will be produced and

sent out a few days prior to the speaking engagement. Jackson will also be a guest speaker at

Iowa State University, the number one agriculture school in the country to continue increasing

awareness about Jackson’s digital services.

One of the biggest events of the campaign will be a media day featuring Jackson’s

services and a press conference with the media. The first half of the media day will consist of

Jackson being at a local farm in Ames, Iowa where he will illustrate firsthand how his services

work and demonstrate the advantages of moving towards a more digital agribusiness model. The

second half the of the day will serve as a press conference on the farm where the media can ask

questions and interview Jackson about his products. A press release will also be released for the

media day to generate awareness and encourage people to attend.

Throughout the entire campaign, frequent announcements and blog posts on sites such as

Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn will be posted to update the public on the process of

the campaign and highlight key events that occur. One such event is a partnership with John

Deere featuring Jackson in a video on all social media outlets talking about new digital

agribusiness products and their advantages. Articles will also be posted in agriculture magazines

such as Farm Journal, as well as articles in local newspapers and magazines to grasp the more

traditional farmers that social media will not reach.

Schedule

Week 1 ● Send out a press release for Pat’s Speaking engagement at the National FFA Convention

● Attend Convention and work his booth to inform/answer questions

● Use social media to post pictures from FFA Convention

Week 2

● Make appearance as a guest speaker at Iowa State University in the Department of Agriculture

● Arrange with the school newspaper to do an interview after the lecture that can be sent out to all Iowa State students

Week 3 ● The partnership with John Deere will be put into place ● Jackson will be featured on all of John Deere’s social media

outlets in video format talking about new digital agribusiness products

● EY will also share/feature this partnership with John Deere on their social media outlets

Week 4 ● Send out press release for media day at the farm to local and national media

● Secure national and local media to attend the event ● Pat will attend the event at the farm where he will demonstrate

the functionality and advantages of the latest technology in digital agribusiness

● Interview/press conference to be held directly after the event with food served made with the booming crop

Budget

$25,000 John Deere Social Media Partnership

$10,000 National FFA Convention Speaking Engagement ● Information booths, gifts, photographer

$10,000 Media Day ● Farm demonstration, photographer, equipment

$5,000 Miscellaneous Expenses ● Outsourced media

Evaluation Plans

In order to evaluate the success of the campaign, steps must be taken before, during and

after the campaign to ensure the implemented tactics are working properly. Before the campaign

launches, the SMART goals must be revisited to ensure they are accurately measuring the

success of the tactics and staying true to the point of the campaign. A pre-campaign survey

should be sent out to grasp people’s initial name recognition towards Jackson and their attitudes

toward and awareness of digital agribusiness products and services. The number of current

clients, social media followers and mentions should be measured, as well as current sales of

digital agribusiness products and services.

During the campaign, it is important to continuously monitor and measure the amount of

media impressions, reach, exposure, share of voice, conversion rates, and ROI using tools such

as Google Analytics. These evaluations will give insight on where adjustments can be made for

the rest of the campaign.

After the campaign has been completed, it is important to determine how successful it

was. A post-campaign survey must be sent out to be compared to the pre-campaign survey to see

if people’s name recognition, attitudes, and awareness of digital agribusiness products and

services changed upon completion of the campaign. A final measurement of the number of

clients, social media followers, mentions and all media content should be measured at the end of

the campaign. An assessment of final sales in digital agribusiness products and services should

be completed as well. During the final evaluation stage, a plan for the continued promotion of

Pat Jackson as a thought leader for digital agribusiness products should be examined.

Conclusion

Overall, the digital agribusiness sector shows great potential for growth. The campaign

must focus on Jackson’s flexibility to work with farms of all sizes - both large and small farms.

In order to raise awareness of the advantages of a digital agribusiness model, Jackson will attend

and speak at the National FFA Convention and Iowa State University, produce a media day with

a press conference, create a social media partnership with John Deere, and generate frequent

media updates on the campaign on both a national and local scale. All of this together will bring

Pat Jackson to the forefront of people's minds when they think about the digital agribusiness

industry.

Communication Samples

To kick things off, EY will spread the word about Jackson speaking at the FFA

Convention through LinkedIn on their own account, and in several groups. Sustainable

Agriculture, Agriculture, Africa Agribusiness Platform, and Agriculture in the Black Sea Region

are just four LinkedIn groups that can attract guests to the FFA Conference to see Jackson, as

well as inform global agricultural counterparts in the industry that Jackson is a viable and

verifiable source of information on all things digital agribusiness. Those four groups alone, plus

EY’s followers, account for a reach of 1,998,237 people, excluding shares.

Twitter and Facebook will be used for for Jackson’s Iowa State speaking engagement in

order to specifically alert college-age students who will be more accessible through those

platforms. A press release and a minute-long social media video posted on John Deere’s

Instagram site will be a part of Jackson’s test farm reveal - to reach both the more traditional

farmers who will read the press release in newspapers and more digital-oriented farmers who

may see the video. At the press conference at the test farm, the public, local newspapers, larger

outlets such as the AP and Chicago Tribune as well as specialized farming magazines will be

invited. Press releases will also be distributed for the other events on Jackson’s launch schedule.

LinkedIn Posts

Twitter Post

Social Video Script

Timing Location Scene Dialogue

0:00-0:15 Test farm in Bellevue, Iowa

Hyperlapse showing time passing throughout the seasons as the corn grows

Pat narrating: “The most ancient form of labor is innovating…”

0:16-30 Test farm in Bellevue, Iowa

Pat Jackson speaking in the field, corn stalks are high

Pat: “With the use of digital agriculture equipment, we’ve produced 20% more corn and harvested 40% more than this field has ever seen…”

0:31-50 Test farm in Bellevue, Iowa

Pat demonstrating how to use a geolocating tractor

“The tractor only needs to learn the field once, and then it’ll be able to run on its own. This precision leads to a harvest that cannot be surpassed.”

0:51-1:00 Test farm in Bellevue, Iowa

Pat walking through the fields of corn at sunrise

“So, what are you waiting for?”

Instagram Video Post

Press Release for test farm reveal:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MARCH 2017 Lainey Garcia Ernst & Young 425-890-3958 lgarcia@ey.com

PAT JACKSON REVEALS TEST FARM Press conference to begin March 28th

Bellevue, Iowa: Digital agribusiness veteran Pat Jackson of Ernst & Young is revealing the

rewards he has reaped from his test farm to the public next week in Bellevue, Iowa. The fields of

corn, which were entirely sowed, watered, fertilized, and harvested with John Deere’s newest

line of digital agriculture equipment and monitored with RMUS crop inspection drones, will set

the stage for Jackson’s press conference. All media outlets are invited to cover the event and

enjoy fresh cornbread made from Jackson’s harvest.

“I’m not the young spring chicken I used to be, despite what I tell my wife, Nancy,” said

Mr. Hammann, the owner of the test farm used for Jackson’s trial, “This digital equipment has

changed the way I farm for the better. I’m never going back.” John Deere’s new machines are

equipped with user-friendly interfaces, precise GPS and radar technology, and the ability to

harvest crops without breaking anyone’s back. The RMUS drones used allowed Jackson and

Mr. Hammann to monitor the crops without even going outside, which is extremely helpful for

the high heat and fickle thunderstorms customary of a Midwest summer.

Since Jackson and EY partnered with John Deere, the farming equipment empire has seen

massive sales. This new line has ushered in 25% more sales than any previous launch in

company history.

John Deere CEO Samuel Allen said, “We are thrilled to partner with a digital

agribusiness expert as qualified as Mr. Jackson, and we are equally as excited for the reveal of

the John Deere test farm. If anyone can maximize a farm’s potential, it’s Pat Jackson.”

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About Us: EY is a multinational corporation providing assurance, tax, consulting and advisory services to companies. One of the largest professional services firms in the world and the 11th largest privately owned organization in the United States, EY takes pride and care in serving every client.

References

“Fact Check: Corporate Farms vs. Family Farms.” Farm Policy Facts. Farm Policy Facts, 19 Dec 2016. Web. Mathur, Ankur, Ben Salama, Eduardo Barros, and Jennifer Helle. "Digital Agriculture: Improving Profitability." Accenture Digital. Accenture, 2015. Web. 1 May 2017. Strothkämper, Anja. "Farm To Fork Goes Digital: How Agribusiness Digitization Can Feed the World." Digitalist Magazine. Digitalist Magazine, 08 Sept. 2016. Web. 1 May 2017.

Appendix: Pertinent Research (Attached) See also: https://www.sap.com/assetdetail/2016/04/e81c4a6f-6a7c-0010-82c7-eda71af511fa.html https://www.ffa.org/home https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate-biological-agricultural https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t08nOEkrX-I