Production Blog

Monsanto Wants to be Part of the Conversation

Monsanto wants to chip away at the negative attitudes that come with genetic engineering and other technologies. (DTN file photo)

DECATUR, Ill. (DTN) -- It's hard to find a consumer that doesn't know -- or have an opinion about -- Monsanto. The St. Louis-based company has become the face of the anti-everything movement.

It's an image they are now working to change, said Jessica Simmons, the company's corporate director of branding and marketing, during a meeting with DTN editors. Monsanto recently rolled out a new media campaign aimed at reaching consumers -- specifically "moms and millenials"-- and their attitudes about food.

New Monsanto television ads show people gathering around tables and sharing family moments. The messages acknowledge that more and more the conversations are about the safety of food and where it comes from. The ads encourage viewers to: "Pull up a chair. Be part of the conversation."

As part of this new makeover, corporate executives such as Robert Fraley are also going public. You'll find Fraley, one of the fathers of genetic engineering (GE), and now Monsanto's Chief Technology Officer, blogging frequently on The Huffington Post (http://bit.ly/…).

Tonight Fraley will participate in an Intelligence Squared U.S. (IQ2) debate about GE foods. The debate will stream live online at 6:45 pm ET on Dec. 3. Viewers can tune in here (http://bit.ly/…) or via IQ2's new app (http://shorefi.re/…).

Fraley and Alison Van Eenennaam, a genomics and biotechnology researcher at UC Davis, will debate in support of the science and its applications. Charles Benbrook, a research professor at the Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources, along with Margaret Mellon, a science policy consultant and former senior scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists, will argue against the science.

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Intelligence Squared U.S. was founded in 2006 and is a non-partisan, nonprofit organization focused on encouraging debates on provocative topics. A news release announcing this debate can be accessed online (http://bit.ly/…)

Simmons told DTN the company has been good at communicating with farmers in the past, but less so with consumers. National food and parenting magazines is another focus of their communication efforts.

"What we've realized is there's a lot of confusion about who Monsanto is and what we do on behalf of the consumer," she said. Simmons also noted that the relationship is complicated because Monsanto isn't marketing directly to consumers. "They aren't buying our brand," she said.

"A lot of what consumers react to is also based more on emotion," she added. "Giving them a lot of facts and figures doesn't always work."

All of the new ads direct consumers to discover.monsanto.com, a micro-website launched in September that encourages visitors to ask questions. Simmons said the answers, which are often in form of videos, feature real people -- staffers, scientists and farmers.

"We're excited because we weren't sure what questions we'd get and 99% of what we've seen so far have been legitimate questions. People are more neutral-to-positive than I thought they would be," she said.

Fraley helped lead the group of scientists that produced the first GE plants. That was 1983.

Hindsight regarding how GE was handled in its infancy is futile, but a common question Simmons said.

"There was probably some arrogance on our part," she admitted to DTN. "I think because we believed in it (the technology) so much.

The question is can the company now engineer a new image?

"This is something we needed to do," Simmons said. "We have nothing to hide. We're making sure that people understand that we're open and that we want to connect. We want to be transparent."

Pamela Smith can be reached at Pamela.smith@dtn.com

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DAVID/KEVIN GRUENHAGEN
1/28/2015 | 9:05 AM CST
Guess what Monsanto no matter what lies you try to portray to the consumer will only expose how power hungry and money hungry your corporation really is. Why don't you explain the enormous amount of tech fees that are l involved with your products that are paid for by the producer and the consumer. Also your involvement in destroying rain forests all over the world for more "safe food production" is out of control, will there ever be enough? So setting up shops in South America, Russia, Ukraine etc. will only result in overproduction and cheap commodity prices for the producers with the USDA on top of markets with "REPORTS" that only benefit corporations and not consumers. Be honest for a change the lies are getting old.
Vince Moye
12/10/2014 | 6:43 AM CST
Part of their image problem stems from the fact that the Big M wants to own so much of the future profits of anyone connected to them.
Pamela Smith
12/10/2014 | 5:32 AM CST
The debate mentioned above can be watched at: http://fora.tv/2014/12/03/Genetically_Modify_Food
Pamela Smith
12/6/2014 | 10:23 AM CST
Curt--I've had the same experience in all kinds of scenarios. Yet, when I ask the same individuals about other companies that participate in genetic engineering, for example, they seem shocked. Why is it so easy to be negative and against? Thanks for the feedback.
Curt Zingula
12/5/2014 | 8:17 AM CST
I'm not particularly in love with Monsanto but this Monsanto hate thing has gone too far! While my wife and I were biking in Colorado this summer, a retired couple and their son stopped to rest and talk with us. Upon learning that we farmed the son immediately asked if we did business with Monsanto. When my wife replied "yes" the guy groaned, shook his head in disgust and rode off. I guess its gotten to the point we farmers have to hide what we do for a living.