Marketing Authenticity

OUTdrive Episode 122 with Lorin Fahrmeier

Today’s market is lacking in what consumers crave most: authenticity. However, a recent surge in agritourism has many Missouri farmers opening their gates for visitors to buy locally sourced products, support small businesses, learn about agriculture firsthand and enjoy a family-friendly outing. It really doesn’t get more authentic than that. In this episode, Missouri State Fair Foundation executive director, Lorin Fahrmeier, discusses personal connections and how brands can reach rural American audiences.

In 2022, Lorin was named the new executive director of the Missouri State Fair Foundation. Before taking the helm of the foundation, Lorin worked for the University of Missouri-Extension as the Missouri Farm to Institution Project Coordinator, connecting Missouri farmers to schools and other institutions to help provide fresh, local foods for students and other customers. As a farmer herself, Lorin knows what it is like, not only to live in, but to embrace rural America. She and her family live on a diversified farm and winery outside Lexington, Missouri. Seasonally, the farm is open to the public for agritourism activities like “u-pick” berries and pumpkins.

Tune into this episode for a deep dive into Missouri farming and agriculture – as a business and lifestyle.

SHOW NOTES

• 1:45 – Lorin’s path to being named executive director of the Missouri State Fair Foundation
• 3:45 – Details on the Missouri State Fair Foundation and the support it provides to the fair
• 5:30 – Who can be a member and information on how someone can support the Foundation
• 7:45 – Lorin’s background growing up as an “in-town farm kid” in Marshall, Missouri
• 8:35 – Lorin describes what farm life is like and why she thinks farmers have to be “serial entrepreneurs”
• 11:00 – Lorin talks about the farm she lives on now and what her farm life looks like today
• 12:45 – How Lorin spent her Labor Day weekend preparing her farm and how people can find their farm for picking pumpkins in the fall
• 15:00 – Lorin and Cliff discuss the impact of marketing on addressing consumer assumptions and emotions
• 17:45 – How Lorin and her husband connect with people on their farm
• 21:45 – How Lorin connects with the Fair Foundation members and potential members, industry and business partners
• 24:00 – Cliff and Lorin discuss the trending interest in agriculture and related fields and activities
• 27:30 – Lorin’s takeaways from her first fair as the executive director of the Foundation
• 33:00 – Lorin shares what trends in marketing that are standing out to her
• 37:15 – Lorin’s closing thoughts about being genuine and authentic