COCHRANE, Alta. – Thirteen years ago, three rugged cowboys told the world, “If it ain’t Alberta, it ain’t beef.”
Last fall, the Alberta Cattle Commission decided the popular image needed updating.
When a new picture was unveiled last July with three attractive ranch women, the $600,000 campaign went further than anything the commission’s promotions committee could have imagined.
“We’re selling an image rather than beef,” said ACC promotions chair Michael Bird.
He said the campaign has probably yielded more than $1 million worth of free advertising as national and international media scrambled to interview the women and produce stories about the campaign and the Alberta beef industry.
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Other Alberta groups are approaching the commission to piggy-back on its success.
When the committee devised the campaign last fall, it knew it was taking a risk by tinkering with a popular image representing Alberta’s largest agricultural industry.
The change is paying off. Quebec, a major customer for Alberta beef, has responded enthusiastically.
“It’s a positive image of the women,” Bird said.
“These are real people who are ambassadors for the industry. When they speak, it’s from the heart.”
The three women have appeared at the Calgary Stampede, an international athletics championship in Edmonton and numerous other promotions for Alberta beef. Dogged by autograph hounds and shutterbugs, they are frequently asked if they are models or real ranchers.
“We’ve had tremendous response from women in the industry and outside the industry who are so pleased to see women represented in this way,” said Erin Butters, one of the three women featured in the campaign.
She is part of a Cochrane ranching family and shares the spotlight with Lenore McLean of Longview and Patti Scott of Sundre.
