CAB® 3QQ
Three quick questions with Mark Polzer.
Mark Polzer is something of a Mr. Fixit at home, and the Wisconsin business school alumnus indulged his travel bug to cheer for the Badgers in the Rose Bowl game. If he got a chance to play golf, he's not going to discuss that score, either. Polzer may not be able to fix some things, like games, but he certainly brings many tools to the table as vice president of business development for Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB).
Something of a marketing coach at CAB since signing on in 1998 with 25 years of foodservice experience, he's responsible for growth strategies in virtually every area — foodservice, retail, value-added products and international. But Polzer says it's easy to coach a team that carries such a fire for the Certified Angus Beef® (CAB®) brand, dedicated to win for Angus producers through customer service to more than 13,500 business partners around the world.
So that you can get to know more about Mark and the brand, I asked him to answer these three quick questions:
1) What is our strategy for growth moving forward?
We may be the biggest beef brand in the world, but we are nowhere near to "saturate awareness," even among those who love beef. So, in that respect, it's all about building greater and more complete brand awareness. That's at retail, that's in the foodservice and restaurant segment, and it's both domestically and internationally. With the full dawning of awareness, one person at a time, we're going to see more demand for consistently high-quality Angus beef, not just "Angus." The only way we can grow producer premiums is to take over what has been a commodity market.
2) How do we maintain the "exclusiveness" of CAB product while trying to move even more tonnage?
That's easy, because we have those 10 specifications that make sure the product keeps its promise and builds on our image. Select-grade beef can disappoint one in four diners, and after going through the recession, people are tired of disappointment. Exclusiveness does not mean short supply, but rather the sustaining ability to sell at a premium, i.e. BMW vs. Chevy. Theoretically, poor planning could send relatively too much product somewhere. But our licensing process for distribution assures that we have partners who understand "brand integrity." Moreover, we grant licenses with location in mind, to assure even distribution but not saturation.
Consumer education and training at the distributor level is a continual process to make sure we communicate the brand attributes and eliminate "Angus confusion." Relevance to our licensees and in the marketplace keeps providing them the opportunity to feature a premium, exclusive product with top profit potential.
3) You have touched on three factors that we hear a lot about at CAB: people, product and integrity. How important are the people?
Well, they certainly aren't self-important or given to brag, but I would like to do just a little of that. This brand is nothing more than an idea and people who specialize in marketing the No. 1 premium brand of beef in the world. Each employee is allowed to concentrate in their area of expertise, whether it be Supply Development, Marketing, Business Development, Brand Assurance or other departments that help to further create demand for high-quality Angus cattle. But the singular team focus helps us concentrate on our mission of adding value to Angus cattle through this high-quality, specification-based brand.
I wish more cattlemen could spend a day or two with our staff, to see the passion, to understand that most of them come from a cattle background and truly believe in our mission. Their sincerity rubs off on CAB licensees, who begin to sense that, as a not-for-profit branch of the American Angus Association, we truly are about their success. As more and more Angus cattlemen join with our CAB licensees in this awareness, the fire spreads to consumers and up goes the value of high-quality Angus cattle.