Even time honored traditions must evolve

Cheryl O’Brien, 62nd Alice in DairylandFor 371 days, I served as Wisconsin’s 62nd Alice in Dairyland, the state’s agricultural ambassador. While I did wear a tiara, I was not a princess. I was a spokesperson, marketer and educator for Wisconsin agriculture — for all of its food, fuel and fiber. And I loved it. 

Having lived the life of Alice for a year, I find it interesting to think about what the job was like five, 20 or even 50 years ago. The Alice program has taken pride in having Alice serve in the same agricultural ambassador role since the beginning, more than half a century ago. Seeing firsthand how the role of Alice has evolved over the years gave me a better understanding of how other brands must work to remain relevant.
 
While the central focus of the job has remained the same, other things have changed. Think about your favorite brand or icon; how have they changed over their history? Like any other brand or icon, Alice has had to adapt and evolve too. The Alice program has been very welcoming of new technologies and trends.

Did you know that Alice:

• Blogs
• Tweets and Facebooks (it’s something I started during my term)
• Has a YouTube channel
• Drives a Flex Fuel Tahoe across the state (a whopping 40,000 miles to be exact)
• Carries a blackberry
• Travels with a GPS and laptop

Allowing the Alice program to embrace those new trends and technologies has enabled the program’s growth and success. It also allowed me reach more people all over the state.

In fact, during my term:

• I traveled to more than 300 events
• I gave nearly 400 speeches
• I conducted more than 350 interviews
• I visited with around 13,000 students at more than 100 schools

Staying current and relevant is a struggle for any brand and even time honored traditions like the Alice program must continue to change to achieve success.

Along a wall in the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) office, you’ll find photos of each Alice dating back to 1948. When looking at those pictures, you can see how trends in clothing and hair styling have changed. But there is something that is pretty common in all the pictures.

It’s something that is still used by Alice today to help her stand out, but something she sometimes fights against. I’ll tell you about that in my next blog.