Winter - Classical Mileend Alpacas

ALPACAS ON TV
Dramatic advances in alpaca marketing have been acheived
in the US, says Mike Safl ey, by the clever use of television.
The alpaca market in the United
States has been a long-running
success. Beginning in 1980, when
alpacas were re-introduced into the US
from England the market has grown
year in and year out and the population
of registered alpacas between 1989
and 2004 has grown at an annual
compound rate of 32%. One of the
most important factors in the success
of the American marketplace was the
magic marriage between alpacas and
television that began in 1993. In 2004,
the market has never been stronger;
the history of this success is a textbook
case of guerilla marketing practiced
by a committed band of breeders who
used the concept of marketing co-ops
to leverage their advertising dollars.
In 1996, I read an article about
an advertising co-op that promoted
pork. Co-op members contributed one
cent per pound from every hog that
they slaughtered and the proceeds
funded their marketing efforts. The ad
campaign was simple. They promoted
pork as the ‘other’ white meat and
encouraged people to eat more chops,
ribs, sausage and bacon. The article
said that the co-op was enjoying great
success, pork futures were up.
I began thinking about how alpaca
52 Alpaca World Magazine Winter 2004/05
breeders might get together in a
marketing co-op. The ARI was just
beginning to issue matching fund
grants for regional marketing efforts.
An article in the USA Today newspaper
that proclaimed that, ‘alpacas were
the investment animal of the 1990s,’
had generated a lot of interest from
airline pilots and many of the people
who had read the paper picked it up in
the airport. The idea came to me in the
shower – Infl ight magazines.
I dried off and called Greg Mecklem
who lived up the road from me, he liked
the idea, I checked with Mario Pedroza,
another alpaca breeding neighbour,
and with Gordon Anderson who was
president of Alpaca Fest International
at the time, they liked the idea. We
decided to create an alpaca-advertising
co-op. This excerpt from an article
about the co-op describes our effort.
‘Together, we christened the fi rst
co-op advertising effort: Western
Alpaca Associates. The co-op placed
ads that invited prospects to call a toll
free number (1-888-8ALPACA). People
responding to the ads were greeted with
a voice mail invitation to leave their
name and address in order to receive a
state-by-state breeder’s directory and
AOBA’s alpaca investment brochure.’
‘Seventy-nine breeders advertised
in the breeder’s directory, representing
nine states and sixty-seven cities.
The sale of ads generated $34,422 in
revenue. The balance of the programme
was funded with matching funds
through an ARI regional grant.’
‘Ads placed in Alaska Airlines’
Infl ight Magazine reached 850,000
people fl ying Alaska, each month.
Sunset Magazine was also chosen for
another ad campaign because of its
Western readership, which totalled
1,425,000 per month. The publications
were selected for: their regional
audience, the high income, highly
educated readership, and the high
proportion of families and women who
subscribe to or read each magazine.
Over 700 directories were mailed
during the fi rst three weeks of the
programme. This campaign found an
enthusiastic audience of people who,
having never laid eyes on an alpaca,
found their photographic images
irresistible.’
The Western Alpaca Associates
directory eventually became the model
for AOBA’s Farm and Ranch Guide. Here
is what AOBA President, Rick Evans,
had to say about the programme in the
July 1997, issue of the Hummer.
‘Though there are several dimensions
to our emerging national marketing
program; the cornerstone of the effort
will be the revised breeder’s guide in
which we are going to sell ads to AOBA
farm members to generate funds to
purchase alpaca advertising in select
national publications.’
‘We feel that, with good participation
from AOBA farm members, we will be
able to triple or quadruple the number
of annual alpaca inquiries to AOBA,
based on the costs and results of
the recent ads we placed in Martha
Stewart Living Magazine. Advertisers
who obtain all the leads generated by
the programme will be getting those
leads for approximately 12–25 cents
each, an amount that is well below the
$3–$6 lead cost that many of you are
experiencing in your alpaca business.
In addition, AOBA will be mailing the
directory, with your farm ad included,
to every one of the 15,000 to 20,000
people who are expected to respond to
our national ads in the upcoming year.’
ALPACAS AND TELEVISION
Next, the ad co-op concept was applied
to television. I had developed the
fi rst alpaca ‘infomercial’ in 1993; an
article from Alpacas Magazine article
described the process.
‘The same concept of an ad co-op
that funded the print media campaign
was applied to television. Anyone who
has ever had his or her farm featured
on TV will attest to the power of
television. AOBA learned this when
Tilson Associates landed airtime for
alpacas on Good Morning America and
the Today Show.
This success gave me the idea to
develop an alpaca “infomercial.” I had
seen this new age form of advertising
selling everything from Bow Flex to those
slice and dice machines. The programs
often featured self-help concepts sold
by the likes of Tony Robbins or diet
programs sold by Dr. Atkins.
All infomercials are twenty-eight
and one-half minutes long. Most have
distinct segments containing interesting
information, which last about fi ve
minutes. Each of the “info” segments is
followed by an offer to sell the featured
product. I produced an infomercial
that told the alpaca story beginning in
South America and continuing on to
farms and ranches in the United States.
The content focused on lifestyle and
investment opportunities.’
The infomercial was a tremendous
success and when Jerry Forstner was
elected President of AOBA in 1995,
he decided to produce an infomercial
that would be available to members.
The tape he created had the added
advantage of failing to feature my