North Dakota is a land teeming with natural gifts to savor. To amplify the abundance, versatility, and availability of the Peace Garden State’s specialty crops, the state’s Department of Agriculture partnered with Level Mpls to create a tastefully intriguing series of recipe webisodes. The goal was to show viewers simple and delicious ways to prepare and preserve a variety of crops while celebrating North Dakota’s tireless food producers and must-visit farmers markets.
After we selected engaging on-camera food personalities with North Dakota roots and culinary expertise, we ideated as a team with our North Dakota partners for timely, seasonal topics and recipes to explore in each of the original four Fresh From North Dakota brand launch episodes.
Creating a recognizable brand identity was crucial to grounding the videos and giving the series an instant and distinctive persona. We designed a rustic and weathered logo-type treatment that alludes to the state’s bold and legendary heritage. Also, to support the videos and hardworking North Dakota food producers everywhere, we served up a branded recipe tool kit complete with the specialty crop-inspired recipes from our videos to share at farmers markets, along with posters to help promote the Fresh From North Dakota recipe video series.
The campaign was well-received by North Dakota’s agricultural community, from the agriculture commissioner and his staff to the many local producers and farmers markets across the state. With compelling stories featuring colorful and delicious recipes, the videos helped build a broader story of the surprising and expansive variety of crops that North Dakota agriculture provides to feed our nation and the world. The video series sparked interest and increased engagement in social channels, spurring proud North Dakota food enthusiasts to like and share the videos and comment about them — which included stories from people who tried the recipes featured in the series.
