Coopwood Begins Efforts to Bring MS Sweet Potatoes into the Limelight

After official notification in early September by the MS Sweet Potato Council to proceed with a public relations and advertising program, Coop-wood Communications immediately started their promotional efforts. According to Scott Coopwood, owner and founder of the Cleveland, MS based agency, his firm is very pleased to have the opportunity to work with the Sweet Potato Council to promote such a quality product. "This is a great opportunity for us as an organization to get in on the ground floor of promoting a product that offers so many positive benefits and has so much market potential," Coopwood says. "Not only is the Mississippi Sweet Potato a superior product to those grown in other regions, but the public is just becoming aware of the substantial health benefits of sweet potatoes in general, so there is a high degree of interest in the product. "We've seen what happened with Farm Raised Catfish once they decided to launch an organized campaign, and we believe the timing is perfect for Mississippi Sweet Potatoes to receive the attention they are due," Coopwood continues. Public Relations and advertising efforts on the part of Coopwood Communications, working hand in hand with Benny Graves, MSU Sweet Potato Specialist, and other Council officers, have already reaped a number of rewardsÑarticles

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A Message from the Council

The Mississippi Sweet Potato industry has continued to grow at a steady pace over the last five years. In fact, this year, over 16,500 acres were planted, and a record volume of Sweet Potatoes were placed in storage this fall. For the last several years growers have recognized the need for an organized and professional campaign to promote Mississippi Sweet Potatoes and in light of the excellent harvest this year, the timing was crucial for us to take steps to make this happen. This August, the Mississippi Sweet Potato Council began efforts to identify and hire an advertising/marketing firm to help us promote the crop. After reviewing several options, the Board of Directors of the Council voted to solicit the help of Coopwood Communications a Marketing-Public Relations-Advertising firm from Cleveland, Mississippi. The agency was commissioned on a six month basis to begin "branding" Mississippi Sweet Potatoes with a public relations and advertising campaign. On another front, in September, after a visit to Vardaman by several representatives from the State Department of Agriculture and Commerce, Commissioner of Agriculture, Dr. Lester Spell, a long time supporter of Mississippi Sweet Potatoes, came forward with a $65,000 grant to be used for the promotion of the product. This grant, which was provided through a one-time disaster fund program for specialty crops by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is to be used as seed money or start-up funds to help the Mississippi Sweet Potato Council jump start their advertising and promotion campaign until Mississippi growers can put into place a structured financial program by which they will fund ongoing promotional efforts. Combining the original promotional budget provided by the Council with the State's grant funds, the Council directed

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