Three Years Down the Drain.
Ben Simpson-Cattle Country marketing Column-Winter2007
www.cattlecountry.com.au
I speak to many businesses in agriculture from small cattle operations to large agribusinesses across Australia and many have a question in common. ‘We produce a great product but why are we losing market share?’
The complexities of marketing can never be fully covered in one column, nor can one supply a ‘one size fits all’ approach to a broad range of clients, however in this column I will be outlining some common marketing pointers that are relevant to anyone selling products on the open market.
In this issue I will be concentrating on the Stud Stock Industry and comparing it to Motor Vehicle Industry.
Imagine you are the head of a large motor vehicle company. You employ a Marketing Manager to develop a new model, one which will benefit the customer – save the environment – increase efficiency- resulting in an increase in sales and company profits.
Your challenge is that the production will take 3 years of development work before it hits the market place. Additionally the majority of the costs will be incurred during this 3-year period before the public even lays eyes on the new model. (Most Stud Cattle Breeders will be seeing where I am heading by now!)
Three years of work and hundreds of millions of dollars pass by and your vehicle is ready to launch. You are happy and proud of the vehicle and you genuinely believe that it will be of benefit to your customers………It is now up to the Marketing Manager to do his magic.
Lets lake a small break here. You all have seen new car campaigns. Those of you lucky enough to have bought a new car in the last 10 years, will know the emotional and economic aspects that lead you to making the purchase. Visual – Style – Environmental – Image – Performance and After Sales Service - to name a few, would have all played a part in your decision making.
How were these messages communicated to you? By whatever means, I suggest that the pride and benefits represented in the vehicle were replicated in the media used to market to you. And whether you like it or not, the manufacturer would have done the market research to present to you the style, image and benefits you were looking for.
Now lets return to our imaginary exercise.
Your Marketing Manager does the following.
He decides that market research is unnecessary and does not consult any past clients to help in the development of the vehicle.
He waits until 3 weeks before the official launch to do any marketing.
He decides to run an ad campaign without imagination of flair.
Instead of a well thought out campaign, he uses old techniques used to represent old models.
He decides not to produce a brochure with high quality professional images; rather he takes a couple of shots of the new car, unwashed against the factory door.
He produces the brochure on some black and white photocopies stapled together listing some benefits of the car but fails to list the benefits to the consumer.
Your marketing manager then comes to you proud that he has saved so much money on advertising.
What he fails to realise is that by cutting out effective marketing of the product he has jeopardised the entire three years of production.
The results of the campaign, I would suggest, would be complete failure. Not because of what you produced but the way in which your product was delivered to the marketplace. In addition to this, your competitors, irrespective of the quality of their products, would have taken market share from you by connecting with clients more effectively than you have.
Personally, I would sack the Marketing Manager immediately. Not only has the marketing manager lost you market share, he corrupted the public’s perception of the company’s in the marketplace and in marketing terms ‘perception IS reality’.
Bringing this story home to the farm, I have seen many great cattle studs lose market share in the last 10 years because of a lack of understanding of the modern marketplace and an inability to embrace new marketing methods despite the fact that many still produce a superior and sustainable product.
Marketing, when used correctly, should reflect the pride, effort and cost a producer has put into his product. You will find your customers will respond accordingly.
Written By Ben Simpson
OGA Marketing & Design
www.ogadesign.com.au
Ben Simpson runs an Australian wide marketing and design company OGA Marketing & Design, specialising in Marketing, Photography, Web Design and Print Media. He also runs a commercial beef enterprise in the Holbrook district of NSW.
