Start Saying Something That Matters

How to Turn Empty Claims into Specific, Meaningful Statements in Ag Marketing

“People do not want all-purpose; they want high-tech specificity.” - James Dyson

At the turn of the 20th century, the most popular word in beer marketing was “pure.” Every brand, from Michelob to Budweiser and Pabst to Miller, leaned on it. It was simple, safe, and, above all, meaningless.

Everyone said it, and no one really showed what it meant.

But in 1907, a little-known Milwaukee brewer named Joseph Schlitz sought the expertise of the legendary ad agency Lord & Thomas to boost his sales. During a tour of Schlitz's brewery, the agency's team witnessed an impressive series of processes: beer being cooled in plate glass rooms filled with filtered air, each drop meticulously filtered through white wood pulp, and glass bottles being washed four times by sanitized machinery.

They also learned that Schlitz sourced water from 4,000 feet underground for its purity and had conducted 1,018 tests to perfect a yeast strain that gave the beer its distinct flavor.

When Lord & Thomas returned with their recommendation, it was simple: "Tell people about what we just saw."

Schlitz was skeptical. "Any one of our competitors could make the same claims," he argued. "This is standard practice in the industry."

"Yes," replied Lord & Thomas, "but none of them have. Be the first to show people what 'pure' really means."

Within six months of running their new campaign, Schlitz became the best-selling beer in America.

Generalities, platitudes, and clichés fall flat…

Yet, in agriculture, they dominate our conversations.

• Crop protection companies shout about being “proven.”

• Retailers insist they’re “value added.”

• Agronomy shops claim to be “innovative.”

• Seed companies can’t stop talking about “performance.”

• AgTech firms bombard us with promises of “data-driven decision support.”

• And everyone seems to get hot under the collar about “ROI.”

The truth? When everyone is shouting the same vague words, no one stands out.

It’s just noise—like every beer brand saying “pure” without showing why.

To break through, you need to do what Schlitz did.

You need to turn empty claims into specific, meaningful statements.

Schlitz didn’t settle for saying ‘pure.’ They unpacked every hidden step in the process:

• “Filtered through white wood pulp.”

• “Washed bottles four times by sanitized machinery.”

• “1,018 tests to perfect the yeast strain for premium taste.”

These weren’t just claims—they were specific, meaningful statements that told a story with teeth. Schlitz didn’t just beat their customers over the head with a contrived trope; they made their claims believable by making them tangible.

When you lay out the facts—step-by-step, with real numbers and concrete details—you turn a platitude into something customers can trust. You make the invisible, visible. And in a world of vague promises, specifics are a superpower.

So how do we go from empty promises to meaningful statements in our marketing?

Most agricultural marketing feels like a rerun.

Full of the same tired phrases and empty promises. If you want to stand out, you need a way to turn vague claims into something customers can believe and act on.

That’s why we developed the S.P.E.C. Formula—to help you replace empty platitudes with concrete details that actually mean something.