What company has Kraft, Oscar
Mayer, Jell-O, Miracle Whip, Post Cereals, Miller beer, and Maxwell House coffee all under its corporate umbrella? The answer: Philip Morris.
However, Philip Morris is noted more as a tobacco company than as a
corporation that houses many of America's most famous brand names.
Philip Morris is trying to change the stigma by becoming more involved in supporting endeavors of the U.S. agricultural industry, including the
efforts of the National Association of Wheat Growers. The company is trying to facilitate communication between groups that are interconnected and interdependent.
Jay Poole is vice president of agricultural
relations for Philip Morris, which spends more than $5 billion on commodities produced annually by farmers, $1.3 billion of that tobacco.
Regardless of your stance on the tobacco issue, Poole says his company has
learned lessons from its controversial battles involving the commodity over the years. The company knows what it's like to be embattled and isolated because of a controversial issue, resulting in hard-earned
lessons. These same lessons can be valuable to the U.S. ag industry and associations such as the NAWG that work to influence agricultural issues. Among them:
Opponents aren't enemies — "If they
meant the same thing, there wouldn't be two different words." Try to understand those who are making public opinion. Communicate with opponents, and try to find common ground for positive solutions.
Look for allies — Work with those whose needs and concerns parallel your own.
Don't be a victim — "Everyone ends up on the receiving end of criticism at one time or another, but let's not whine about
it." Poole says farmers and ranchers are proud of what they do, but too often they view themselves as victims.
However, American Farm Bureau Federation research shows that consumers rank farmers right up
there with teachers and firefighters in their value to society. Farmers and ranchers need to view themselves more positively, says Poole, and agribusiness needs to help in that regard. "Seeing yourself as a
doer, a scrapper, a motivated, resourceful survivor goes a long way toward turning you into exactly that."
Make sure your stand is defensible — Be careful when you choose to make your stand. If you're
going to defend a position, make sure it's defensible. He tells the story of a lonely tobacco exec who suggested supporting no-smoking areas early in the smoking debate. "The industry didn't listen; it acted
as if a line in the sand was written in stone. It's too late to do that one over, but the lesson is, pick a position you're sure is right. Otherwise, you could find yourself changing positions on issues so
often it looks like tap-dancing."
Never stonewall — Issues don't go away if you ignore them. "They grow. You saw what happened in the tobacco industry. The same thing can happen in
other sectors of agriculture." For example, hog waste disposal and the environment is an issue. But Poole points out that U.S. pork leaders aren't acting like victims, and they're not pretending that the
issue will go away. Rather, they're setting the framework for the debate. That includes tackling the problem head on, including the use of the media, and fostering industry dialogue for pork producers to
follow. Further, they're putting time and resources into finding solutions to the controversy that work for everyone.
Never give anyone "the silent treatment" — Never refuse to communicate.
Even a situation you might perceive as a threat is an opportunity to communicate with an audience you might not reach otherwise, says Poole. "That doesn't mean reject criticism, even if it seems trivial or
absurd. But rather, respond with your own position, stated as clearly as possible. If a critic offers you an opportunity to communicate, use it."
Be first with an issue whenever possible — Don't let
opponents set the ground rules every time by choosing the forum and the framework for discussing issues. All questions are leading questions, so try to lead the debate in the right direction.
Make yourself understood on a human level
— It's easy to attack an industry or an institution, Poole says, but it's much more difficult to maintain real sustained animosity toward an actual, living, breathing human. The "human" aspect is what agriculture has going for it.
"If we as an industry don't work to keep that human connection, to communicate that we're real people, real families delivering products to the world, we'll wake up some day and find out that someone has defined our
industry for us," says Poole. "This is no time to retreat, to curl up in a ball and hope it all goes away. We've got to stay out there."
