KANSAS CITY, MO. – As Midan Marketing celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2024, Michael Uetz and Danette Amstein continue to convey their passion for the meat industry whenever a conversation on the subject arises.
The co-founders of Midan Marketing remain committed to bolstering the meat industry and pushing the agency forward as a resource for meat producers, processors and retailers to achieve their goals.
Both Amstein and Uetz come from farming roots, so they have an instinct for what their clients need every day to achieve their goals.
“I think it’s easier to get out of bed in the morning when you know that you are helping build brands or you’re doing consumer research or creating connections with consumers, so they understand the industry more,” Amstein said. “That leads to the value of that animal being worth more, which directly impacts the livelihood of the folks that get up and do this 24/7, 365.”
With decades of experience working in the meat industry, Uetz and Amstein strive to help brands realize their potential and tell their story to reach a broader audience.
“It’s really helping our clients understand that the value and the knowledge and the expertise they bring helps bring that product to life, and that’s critically important,” Amstein said. “But to sell that product and continue to sell it and have repeat sales of it, we’ve got to take into account what the consumer is looking for and how to message to them and to make sure that resonates.”
Consumer Insight as Tools
A central part of Midan’s success over the last 20 years is encouraging customers and consumers to gather more nutritional information for the meat case. Midan worked with the changes made by the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) in 2010 and helped bring nutrition facts to people interested in learning more about the meat they purchase.
Midan also works to ensure that the packaging and nutrition labels explain the necessary information and highlight the claims for certain meat products.
“We work with our clients to make sure that they understand their point of differentiation, the most important messages they need to convey about what they bring to the solution for the consumer, and then make sure that’s prominently front and center,” Uetz explained.
Amstein said she was thankful that the industry chose to invest in the labels in the past because it helps tell the protein story now to younger generations interested in details of the industry.
“The millennials and now the Gen Z’s, they’re looking for protein, and our job is to make sure that they know the value of what they find at the meat case and to keep them coming back to the meat case many, many times versus looking throughout the rest of the store,” she said.
Along with all the work they put in with clients, Amstein, Uetz and Midan also spend many hours talking to the consumers about what they need to learn about the meat products in the marketplace.
Uetz described how Midan does a lot of client-based research but also has a long history of conducting proprietary research to identify hot topics and relevant points of information.
Michael Uetz, co-founder and principal at Midan on his family's ranch in North Dakota
| Source: Midan Marketing“It really helps us work with our clients to understand what are the challenges as we create messaging for their products,” he said. “What are the challenges they may face depending on what it is we want to convey about their product and how do we overcome those based on what we know, consumers understand and how they consume information.”
Amstein explained the importance of defining sustainability with consumers for the meat industry, which falls into several categories, including animal welfare, environmental concerns of companies, water usage and energy use in totality along with economic impact. With its research, Midan can show clients what sustainability means to a consumer looking at their product.
“We’re able to take those learnings that we have from our research and utilize them with our clients to help them make sure they’re staying current with the messaging they need to be doing on their website, messaging they need to be doing in their social platforms, whatever it is that they are communicating to the target they have for that product or brand,” she said.
Uetz also mentioned how proud he was of Midan’s recent work on meat consumer segmentation research, which examined multiple areas and figured out meat consumers’ psyche.
“It truly allows us to look at this concept of moving away from one-size-fits-all, but we look at not only stated shopping behaviors but attitudes and perceptions,” he said.
Amstein highlighted that an advantage Midan has is its account team with expertise in meat science, which gives them the ability to connect with meat clients when discussing the industry.
“We’re very blessed with folks on our team that are just as passionate about the livelihood of those raising animals as we are,” she said.
For clients looking to utilize multiple platforms to promote their company, Midan is offers various options including the production of videos for meat companies, such as plant videos, company culture videos, culinary videos, and foodservice-focused videos.
“The ability to actually get deep and find those stories that really bring life — individuals- and companies-wise — is a significant part of what we do,” Uetz said.
Progress of Meat Messaging
Midan also highlighted how getting the meat message out has changed over the years.
Amstein discussed how the rise of internet influencers and others has impacted meat marketing over the last decade.
“An influencer 20 years ago was probably mom and grandma,” Amstein said. “But pick up the phone, the amount of options you have on Instagram or TikTok or whichever platform that you are spending time on is immense. Influencers can play a significant role in reaching a key audience.”
She pointed out that audiences look for authenticity and personalization when they see influencers, so working with people with large audiences in or near the meat space is important to find new customers.
“There has to be a natural alignment not a forced alignment for that to work really, really well,” Amstein said of influencers working on meat products.
Danette Amstein, co-founder and principal at Midan on her family's farm in Kansas
| Source: Midan MarketingDay of Service
Even with employees spread across the United States now, Midan wants its people to be mindful of the world around them. On Oct. 25, the company held a day of service to commemorate its 20th anniversary, with volunteer hours supporting a charity of their choice.
Both Uetz and Amstein addressed the importance of working with others in their local community and taking a few hours away from the usual e-mail messages and calls.
“We think it’s incredibly important for our team to be able to be in a position to give back,” she said. “And at the same time not worrying about the e-mail that’s coming in or the Teams message that’s coming across, and we’ll celebrate Midan, but we’ll also celebrate helping others.”
Future Facing
With comprehensive experience in the industry, Amstein and Uetz are always looking toward the future and predicting what meat trends to watch out for.
Three important areas they both will be looking at in the future are the global supply of the meat industry and how that continues to expand outside the United States, the ongoing role of sustainability and finally, nutrient density and telling the story of the importance of meat proteins to remain healthy.
Uetz explained that future meat buyers will continue to be overwhelmed by information in the marketplace, and Midan and others will have to be there to explain their message.
“We need to be very proactive and very intentional about making sure that we’re constantly part of the conversation, that we’re proactive about bringing information and intelligence and that we continue to talk to consumers about their evolving needs,” Uetz said.
When closing out their reflections on the last 20 years at Midan, Amstein and Uetz reflected on why this work in the meat industry remains fulfilling and why it’s so crucial to continue the firm’s work well into the future.
Uetz also commented on the passion he sees in the meat industry throughout the years, whether connecting one on one with a client or presenting insights at a conference.
“They bring the same passion, the same desires to make opportunities for the industry,” Uetz said.
