A farmer-owned international ag cooperative, Limagrain established its American headquarters in Fort Collins, Colorado, and chose Toolbox to help build the U.S. brand.

increase in total revenue since year one

average revenue increase per year since opening doors

individual brand identities built for wheat and barley varieties

WHEAT IDENTITIES

Cultivating a brand strong enough to take on the big guys

Limagrain Cereal Seeds (LCS) entered the U.S. market in 2009 with a unique challenge and a big goal: Capture a significant percentage of the U.S. wheat market in a short time period — as an unknown player in the space. We started the process with a Marketing MindJam: digging in, asking lots of questions, conducting immersive research and getting to the heart of what makes LCS different — and why growers should care. It was clear early on that there was a compelling story to tell. While essentially a startup in the American market, LCS’s international parent company Limagrain owns a significant market share in Europe and enjoys a stellar reputation earned over 50+ years in business. As a new player in the space, LCS was committed for the long haul, with profitability years away and marketing budgets tight. A highly targeted brand strategy was essential.

The Takeaway

In a market where other seed companies are better known for the chemicals they sell, Limagrain’s history as a farmer-owned cooperative with deep ties to the land was a solid foundation on which to build a brand.

Room to grow

A highly targeted brand strategy was developed to focus primarily on the biggest potential buyers: seed dealers. While some seed companies look to undercut dealers by selling directly to their customers, LCS made an early commitment to helping dealers grow their businesses by giving them the products and tools they need to thrive. It’s hard for dealers to sell a product with little demand, so the brand strategy also focused on generating demand from growers. The ultimate goal: Get growers asking their dealers about LCS and ensure those dealers have the tools and incentives they need to sell LCS varieties.

Standing out in a large field of competitors

LCS entered the U.S. wheat market with strong, regionally focused varieties that competed well in seed trials and featured attention-grabbing names and graphic identities. Because it’s easier to build name recognition and generate demand for a wheat variety named LCS Cannon than for one named RQ5000.

To help dealers grow their businesses, Toolbox designed pocket-sized seed guides that give growers easy access to agronomic, yield and end-use quality data. We built a custom digital dashboard so dealers could report royalties and access marketing materials online. Region-specific ad campaigns, media planning and placement, and a strong public relations push all further helped create demand and support dealers.

As the agency of record for LCS, Toolbox took — and takes — a lead role in developing and implementing ongoing marketing and brand strategies.

Award-winning

In 2018, LCS and Toolbox were presented with a regional National Agri-Marketing Association merit award for our multi-media launch of a new wheat variety, LCS Chrome. The launch included a new identity, pop-up event banner, seed guide feature, web page and direct mail campaign.

In their words

“Toolbox’s brand creation work has set us apart from every other seed supplier in the country. There is just nothing out there that touches what they are doing for us right now.”

— Zach Gaines, Limagrain Cereal Seeds

Planting seeds for continued success

Charged with capturing a significant percentage of the U.S. wheat market in a short time period, the teams at Toolbox and Limagrain Cereal Seeds continue to work side by side to put the future of agriculture right back where it belongs — in the hands of farmers.

To date, we’ve built individual brand identities for more than 50 wheat and barley varieties; LCS is now nationally known for its excellence and originality in both genetics and branding. A recent website redesign incorporating more advanced Find a Dealer features, accompanied by regionally targeted Google ad campaigns, has attracted a record number of unique visitors and seed dealer searches. And a focused sales and marketing push in the region with the most room for growth has resulted in LCS selling out of its newest seed varieties for two consecutive seasons.

Planting seeds for continued success

Charged with capturing a significant percentage of the U.S. wheat market in a short time period, the teams at Toolbox and Limagrain Cereal Seeds continue to work side by side to put the future of agriculture right back where it belongs — in the hands of farmers.

To date, we’ve built individual brand identities for more than 50 wheat and barley varieties; LCS is now nationally known for its excellence and originality in both genetics and branding. A recent website redesign incorporating more advanced Find a Dealer features, accompanied by regionally targeted Google ad campaigns, has attracted a record number of unique visitors and seed dealer searches. And a focused sales and marketing push in the region with the most room for growth has resulted in LCS selling out of its newest seed varieties for two consecutive seasons.