Ontario Soil & Crop Improvement Association

Canadian Agricultural Partnership

On-farm success story videos series and promotion

Situation:
As a delivery agent for the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (the Partnership), the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association (OSCIA) is responsible for administering cost-share funding to producers. In addition to increasing awareness about the application process and submission deadlines, OSCIA encourages producer participation by showcasing successfully completed Partnership projects to help them envision an innovative project for their own farm.

Action:
OSCIA engaged Synthesis to create the ‘On-Farm Success Story Video Series’ and a corresponding promotion plan to boost views. We worked with OSCIA to identify producers who were enthusiastic about sharing their Partnership experience. Our videographer travelled to farms in all parts of the province (and even Toronto’s One of a Kind Craft Show) to interview the producers and capture their unique stories. The videos use a combination of narration, producer interviews, graphics and B-roll to tell an impactful story. They are posted on OSCIA’s YouTube channel and numerous support materials were created to help promote video views, including: a social media campaign, digital ads, websliders and feature articles as part of a media relations effort.

Results:
Since 2017, we have created 34 (English and French) On-Farm Success Videos, which have been viewed thousands of times. In fact, a video featuring a farrow-to-finish pork operation has amassed more than 21,000 views. As a result, OSCIA is inspiring producers to apply for cost-share funding to implement innovative projects that will have an impact on their farms.

“We work with Synthesis on fully integrated multi-media communication campaigns. They understand our target audience and know how to reach them. The team is highly responsive and adaptive. That agility makes a big difference to OSCIA.”
~John Laidlaw, Manager of Field Delivery, OSCIA