While the presidential election proved to be a boon for the Democratic Party, La Cense wanted to make sure Americans didn't forget about Independent parties. So the maker of high-quality, grass-fed beef put its candidate "Angus La Cense" up for president. The fact that he is a cartoon cow didn't matter. What did was raising awareness of the Web site www.grassfedparty.com.

La Cense beef can only be purchased online, so finding creative ways to promote the brand offline is essential. Anyone who joins the party, for example, gets the chance to win four pieces of high-quality beef plus a free T-shirt. The Web site, and party, is not only designed to promote the brand, but also to serve as a community for people who support sustainable agriculture.

The company regularly hosts product demonstrations and sampling promotions where shirts, bumper stickers, buttons and totebags are distributed. One such event was held at the Conde Nast Cafeteria where chef Peter Hoffman cooked up some tasty beef and encouraged employees to sign up to learn more about sustainable foods. It also didn't hurt that Conde Nast owns some of the world's premiere magazine titles.

"Bring a purely online brand, and one that sells grass-fed beef, which is a new category to the vast majority of consumers in America, we believe there is incredible value in product sampling promotion," says L. John Yarusi, principal/director of strategic branding at Olive, the agency behind the efforts. "Branded products like the La Cense T-shirts and totebags reinforced the DNA of the beef. They were useful in connecting the brand to the audience once the sampling event was over, and were perfect because they had lots of crossover appeal."

La Cense has also had a presence during New York's Fashion Week, at Good Magazine events and at the Democratic National Convention. It even staged a mock acceptance speech for Angus La Cense in front of the New York Public Library.