Jazzmen Rice: A Truly Americana Product

New Orleans – There is a new kind of Jazz coming out of New Orleans. It may not be a form of music, or have the smooth tones and sounds of Louis Armstrong’s trumpet, but it does have the same face. Jazzmen Rice is a new variety of aromatic rice that has recently been introduced to the market and is the first American aromatic rice that can compete head-to-head with the renowned Thai jasmine rice. Developed by the Louisiana State University Agriculture Center, this very aromatic strain of rice took over a decade of development and almost a year to produce a marketing effort that could create an iconic brand that people would recognize and identify with. Through a remarkable relationship with the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, Jazzmen Rice has created the perfect union between the image of the original “jazzman,” Louis Armstrong, and the innovative brand, Jazzmen Rice.

Developing the Brand

When Jazzmen Rice founders George Chin, Andrew Wong, and Egbert Ming brought the innovative concept of Jazzmen Rice to marketing expert and founder of International Marketing Systems, Lamar Berry, a clear marketing direction evolved that they wanted to pursue. It was decided early on that there was no one better to represent Jazzmen Rice than “America’s Goodwill Ambassador to the World,” Louis Armstrong. “It’s poignant, it depicts where we want our brand identity to reside and obviously Satchmo is iconic” said Lamar Berry. “Louis Armstrong is known all over the world,” Berry continued, “and if you had to put a face on jazz music, it would be Satchmo’s. Now Louis Armstrong can be the face of a different type of jazz, Jazzmen Rice.” After Berry contacted Oscar Cohen, director of the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation and discussed the Jazzmen Rice concept, the LAEF and Jazzmen Rice were able to navigate an all encompassing license for the image rights of Louis Armstrong to assist Jazzmen Rice in becoming a brand and not just a commodity.

Bringing Americana Back

Everything about Jazzmen Rice personifies Americana. From its development stage, Jazzmen Rice was created with the idea that American farmers would finally have a product that could contend with the Thai Jasmine juggernaut. When the name Jazzmen and the face of the iconic Louis Armstrong were united, Jazzmen Rice became more than an American commodity, it became an American brand. Now this American product is being sold in American stores and bought by American consumers. Soon this product will be sold internationally and remind the world of the great products that come from the United States. Once again, Louis Armstrong will be “America’s Goodwill Ambassador to the World.”