Have you ever heard of Runza? To those who live in Nebraska, it’s one of the best fast-food hamburgers you can get; or it’s a signature sandwich with the perfect combination of spices, hamburger and cabbage. You can order your fries with seasoning salt or get Frings™­— fresh-made onion rings and fries in a combo. 

When somebody says, “Let’s head to Runza,” everybody knows what they’re going to get. 

They’re a regional fast-food chain, with locations almost exclusively in my home state; so if you haven’t heard of them, it’s not a failure in advertising. It’s rather a circumstance of your geography. 

Within the state, I promise they do plenty of marketing, and they do it well. From their “Temperature Tuesdays^®” promotion — where you get a deal based on how cold the winter weather gets — to the way they unite their fan base with clever verbiage on their packaging, they know how to speak to their customer base and keep them coming back. 

They’re never going to reach the more than $4 billion that McDonald’s spends on advertising each year, but they don’t have to. 

Small program, big impact

Runza is a great case study for breeders who think they’re not big enough or far-reaching enough to need promotional plan. They don’t blanket the whole country; they target their marketing efforts to put their investments toward people who are most likely to step through their doors.Sometimes I hear Angus ranchers say, “I’m just a small program,” or “We’re just getting started.” They’ll offer up those statements almost as an excuse for why they don’t plan their promotion. 

Instead, I see those statements as the reason they absolutely need to put a focus on getting the word out. 

If you’re trying to draw a more regional customer base, have a smaller head count or are getting started in the business, there are tailored options that will help you get the word out.

• Online-only or private-treaty sale books. A sale book is the best way to get all the details about your offering to the masses, but you don’t have to have a large-scale, traditional bull sale to produce a book. By designing an online-only book, you get visibility on Angus.org and save the printing costs. A private-treaty book is designed to give you flexibility to make edits as animals sell, but still have all the extra perks of an Angus Media-produced book.
• Digital advertising. A cost-effective way to reach the Angus audience is to use digital options. We often say this is the gateway advertising product, because you can customize the number of days an ad runs; dollars spent; and can get really specific with options, such as retargeting filtered down to specific target states vs. the whole country. 
• One-page website. No matter how many people are searching for your business, you want to make sure you’re found. A one-page website gives you a simple online presence with a shorter timeline and a smaller price tag.  
• Co-op advertising or Seedstock Listings. The Angus Journal and Angus Beef Bulletin^® are both trusted resources cattlemen seek out. To ease into print advertising, the co-op ad space or seedstock listings are business-card size advertisements that get your operation and key contact information listed and in the hands of our registered breeders or commercial cattlemen readers. You can add photos, QR codes or logos and make the space your own.

No matter your size, having a strong “why” and consistent brand still matters. That, and a clever tagline never hurt, either. 

The next time you’re traveling across the country on I-80, keep an eye out for Runza and give it a try. See why they’ve been “Tricking you into liking cabbage since 1949.”