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June 16, 2003 - Strategy Magazine
Regular Features

Counter Strategy
What should the beef industry do in the wake of mad cow?

by Samson Okalow
page 2

Remember that Tears For Fears song, "Mad World"? Scratch that. It's now a "Mad Cow World" and beef marketers face a stiff challenge in the wake of the first Canadian outbreak of Bovine Spongiform Encephalothapy (BSE) since 1993.

Even though the outbreak is limited - at a single cow, which is perhaps even inconsequential - it has already bruised the $7.8-billion beef industry and, in turn, the Canadian economy. According to the Canadian Cattlemen's Association (CCA), BSE, or mad cow as it's commonly known, is costing Alberta beef farmers $11 million per day in lost revenue. To contain any spread, over 1,500 cows have been prematurely slaughtered or slated for slaughter in Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia.

The list of countries banning Canadian beef includes the country's largest customer, the U.S., which accounted for 51% of exports in 2001. Japan, South Korea, Mexico, China and Taiwan have also followed suit, while Australia has banned imports of breeding cattle. Even within Canada, rifts between the provinces have begun to appear as Ontario and some Atlantic provinces float ideas about halting inter-provincial beef trade.

Sounds like someone will soon be calling up their advertising and/or PR agencies, doesn't it? Surprisingly, the answer is, "Maybe, maybe not."

Presently, the Alberta government - which is at the forefront of the crisis - has no plans for any communications work. "I think it's far too early to determine that," says Shirley McLellan, agriculture minister for Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development. "But I can tell you that any form it takes from our perspective will be made with the good advice of the industry."

The Calgary-based CCA, which represents 90,000 beef producers, is similarly taking a wait-and-see approach. "Our focus at the moment is doing everything that needs to be done to get the borders reopened to exports so that our industry can start to recover," says Cindy McCreath, communications manager. "Once that happens we will be assessing the situation again and seeing if there is any additional public relations or advertising work that needs to be done."

Big mistake, says one industry observer. John Torella, senior partner and retail consultant at Toronto-based J.C. Williams Group, thinks the provincial government and industry association should get started immediately.

"I think they should be planning - whether or not they run it or execute it is another issue. It would be prudent to have a contingency plan in place," he says. "You want to be able to react quickly to either the issue disappearing or the issue expanding. And the longer the consumer is in doubt or confused, the bigger the potential for risk is involved."

But according to a recent survey by Toronto-based Ipsos-Reid, so far the consumer doesn't seem fazed. For instance, while 51% of Canadians were "concerned" that mad cow would affect Canada, that number is down from 61% in 2001. Further, 58% of Canadians don't feel anyone in the country will become infected with the disease, up from 39% two years ago.

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