Marketing Your Product

Resources• VT Direct Marketing Survey

– http://www.uvm.edu/farmpricing/

• Small Scale Food Processors Asso.– http://www.nyssfpa.com/index.html

• Marketing Your Business– http://extension.psu.edu/farm-business/

farmentrepreneurs/marketing

• Northeast BF Written Resources– http://nebeginningfarmers.org/publications/

Additional Resources

• Do-It-Yourself Guide to Market Research– http://www.agmrc.org/media/cms/

UofGeorgiaorg_7EE4EE6C3DABF.pdf

• NY MarketMaker– http://ny.marketmaker.uiuc.edu/

• Local Harvest– http://www.localharvest.org/

What is Marketing?

• The act or process of selling or purchasing in a market.

• An aggregate of functions involved in moving goods from producer to consumer.

Any production with out effective market strategy will not bring a rewarding return.

Marketing Cycle

Communications

(Promotion)

Id how to meet that need

Define Customer need

Check on Satisfaction level

Finding your unique selling position(s)

Deliver Product

3 Generic Marketing Strategies

Each has benefits or reasons for selecting a particular marketing strategy,

You must determine which works best for your business.

• Cost leadership (Wal-Mart)– “For the quality, we are the cheapest”

• High volume sales• Low cost relative to competition• Cost maximization practices

• Differentiation (Harry and David)– “There is something really special about us…”

• Create perception that you are unique • Strong marketing skills

• Focus or Niche Strategy (variation of Differentiation)

– “We only cater to one segment of the market…”• Ability to really understand customer need • Willing to let your customer have a lot of say re: your

product

Generic Strategies - Michael Porter (1980)

Fundamentals of Marketing

• Product • Place • Price • Promotion • People• Producer

Anytime one of these “P’s” changes, it should trigger a review of all the other “P’s”

Product

• Question – “Would you buy this product or service?”

Place

Price• What is the value of

your product?• What are your costs?

– Start Up• Licensing• Label design and printing• Bar code• Research and

Development• Insurance• Business Formation• Facility and Equipment

On going Operational Costs• Rent, mortgage, utilities• Raw materials• Packaging• Label reprinting• Insurance, taxes• Legal and professional assistance• Labor• Repair, maintenance• Marketing expenses• Shipping & Deliveries

• What will the customer pay?

• What does the competition charge?

• What will the market bear?

• Can you make a profit?

Things to Ask

Promotion

• Direct– From the Farm

• Host an Open House– Farm markets– In person (Pack and Peddle)– Mailings

• Newsletters– Advertisement

• Internet

– Website,

– Social media

• Trade Shows and Events

• Marketing programs

– Pride of NY

– Department of Commerce

– Chamber of Commerce

Most Powerful Promotion

Word of Mouth

Create an Identity

Business Card

Brochure

Business Sign

Website

T-shirts, hats

People

Producer

• Share Your Food and Farm Story

• Producer must be knowledgeable

• Provide Good Customer Service

• Communicate well with consumers

• Ask consumers questions and listen to the recommendations on improving the product

Using 6 P’s

After your research, you should be able to answer:

• Who is your customer, who is your competition and what is your production potential?

• Leading to:– What is my market potential?

Then as the next step, moving on to develop effective marketing strategies

Describe Your Customers and Marketplace

• How big is the market in terms of customers?• What is your customers age, income, buying

preferences and habits?• Who are your competitors, size of the market?• Your industry history, trends, future growth?• Periodically use to update knowledge about

target customers

How Going to Find Out?

Competition

• Who are your main competitors?• How is their business…growing?• How does your product compare to

competition?• How does your unique selling point

compare?• What do you know about their operation?

What do the Big Guys Do?• Assess their strengths and weaknesses

• Develop a strategy

• Product concept (trends, needs)

• Develop and Test prototype

• Test market

• Evaluate business and technical aspects

• Introduce and market

Smart Considerations

• Can react quickly to new market trends

• Can try new products economically

• No stockholders or BOD to report to

• Can fill niche products needs not met by big companies

• Need to work smarter, not harder

Doing Your Homework:

• Is there a need for your product?

Deciding not to produce a product after market research shows a limited market is a good outcome!

“Fail Small, Fail Early”

Principals for Marketing Success

• Focus – keep the customer in mind• Positioning – unique selling point• Demonstrations sell• Advertising – focus on product advantage• Distribution – product on shelves to satisfy

consumers needs• Promotion – to increase in store display

Contact InformationSteve Hadcock

Capital Area Ag. & Hort. Program

479 Route 66

Hudson, NY 12534

518-828-3346

seh11@cornell.edu