Social media campaign for rural cooperatives and their tasks in the agricultural and food economy

 

Volker PETERSEN
German Raiffeisen Association (DRV)

People working for cooperative businesses can be proud: during the coronavirus crisis the general public and the farming sector have been able to depend on them for supplies. They deserve the same public recognition and appreciation as other parts of the economy, such as the healthcare sector and food shops. So the DRV is launching a social media campaign to put the spotlight on cooperatives.

Cooperatives: from the country, for the country

This is the catchphrase for a series of short video clips from rural cooperatives shared on DRV's Instagram and Facebook channels since the end of May. The aim is to reach 7 million people with the clips. Polls carried out for DRV have shown that young people and urban regions in particular are unfamiliar with cooperatives, which they associate mainly with banks and house-building.

The clips introduce rural cooperatives and their role in the agri-food sector, giving an insight into how cooperatives work and listening to their employees. The videos also illustrate the relevance of the cooperative approach, especially during the coronavirus crisis, and show how supplies are reaching the general population and farmers. The campaign explains the origins of the cooperative concept, for instance in the clips "Born of crises, made for crises: we keep supply lines open" and "Together in times of crisis: part of our DNA".

The success of the campaigns has encouraged the DRV to further expand its social media activities.

Work organisation