Dear Soy Candle Manufacturer,
The Iowa Soybean Promotion Board is a farmer-driven board, whose objectives include increasing demand for soybeans. Soy candle wax has the potential to use up to 100 million bushels of soybeans, and soy candle manufacturers are key partners in reaching this soybean usage goal.
MARKETING MATERIALS
Since we share mutual goals to increase the volume of soy candles purchased, we're creating marketing materials you may be eligible to use:
1. A postcard with a unique graphic, the benefits of soy candles, and the "Bringing nature to light" tag line. The back is blank for you to customize with your company-specific information. It can serve many purposes, such as:
a. Send to your consumers if you sell directly
b. Provide to your retailers to advertise a special sale, trunk show, or coupon discount
We'll include templates with these postcards to provide additional marketing ideas and sample text for a variety of marketing scenarios.
2. A brochure that can be mailed to customers or used at point of purchase
3. A point of purchase display (photo in a plexiglass holder) that visually highlights soy candles amid natural soybeans.
4. A listing on our web site www.iasoybeans.com
Because we're guided by the rules of the soybean checkoff, you'll find these materials increase demand for the entire category of soy candles rather than any one company. For those reasons, we do not offer a coop advertising program or assist specific manufacturers with trade shows. However, our efforts to build demand for the entire category of soy candles should benefit you indirectly as well.
ELIGIBILITY FOR THESE MATERIALS
We will be soon sending you a soy wax agreement. It will list standards for using these materials including the minumum percentage of soy wax used to receive these complimentary materials. We will have two factors impacting the percentge of soy wax in your candles:
a. The percentage of soybean oil in the wax you purchase from your supplier
b. The blend of soybean oil you use in your formula
We will be sending this out sometime this fall.
ADDITIONAL MARKETING EFFORTS
The Iowa Soybean Promotion Board interacts with Iowa radio and newspaper media to develop earned media coverage. An example is the "Spill the Beans About Soy Wax" radio promotion. Unless we hear from you otherwise, we'll send periodic emails describing some of the category-building marketing activities planned
Please feel free to contact me at svangorp@iasoybeans.com or 1-800-383-1423 with questions. Thank you for manufacturing soy candles!
Sarah Van Gorp
Iowa Soybean Promotion Board