Brand Update 2018: Year in Review

ROOTED IN
RELATIONSHIPS
Packed between these bookends are an infinite number of
stories: of families, communities, partnerships, relationships
and pride. Each logo’s landing spot includes its own unique
connection to the best Angus beef and has become a new
source of family lore and memories.
That’s precisely why the brand, for its milestone 40th
anniversary, embarked on a cross-country journey to paint
40 barns with its iconic logo. Painted barns, functioning as
billboards, were once a mainstay on America’s rural highways
and byways, but have become relics. What better blend of
nostalgia and innovation could there be for a brand deeply
rooted in tradition, agriculture and marketing, celebrating
both its history and impact on today’s industry?
For the brand that changed beef, unconventional isn’t
unusual. Launched in 1978 and a niche program for many of
its early years, the brand has grown to represent one-fifth of
the nation’s fed cattle supply and markets more than a billion
pounds of beef annually. It’s evolved into an Angus family
legacy and thriving entity that sustains and grows businesses
at every step from farm gate to dinner plate.
The search for barn locations began in late 2017. Farming
families could nominate themselves, or others, for selection.
Painting began in January 2018 in Ocala, Fla., where Baldwin
Angus Farm – home to a red barn located off Interstate 75
– became the first of the 40. The late family patriarch Leroy
Baldwin had served on the brand’s board, and as chairman
of the American Angus Association ® board. His legacy and
intertwined history with the brand was the ideal foundation
for a campaign honoring the past.
From there, the journey zig-zagged coast to coast, hosting
celebration events at barn paintings in 25 states before
wrapping up on October 18 – 40 years to the day after the first
pound of product was sold in Columbus, Ohio – at Atterholt
Farms, near the brand’s Wooster, Ohio, offices.
BRAND UPDATE
40
The barn paintings brought ranchers and
butchers, neighbors and media, and processors
and students together. Here, the brand’s Chef
Michael Ollier left his mark alongside Barn
Painter Troy Freeman.