YOUR MARKET
g n ti e k r a M
for value
F
BY MIN TEAH CURTIN UNIVERSITY
BRINGING awareness to how and when your produce fits into the lifestyle of a customer.
or everyday necessities such as fruits and vegetables, the question is always what is the value of marketing? How does marketing add value to the prices of, say for example a carrot? How and why would customers know the difference? In an agricultural nation such as Australia, the quality of produce is of a higher standard compared to those in many other nations. However, with improved agricultural practices, food quality standards and assurances, the points of differentiation in quality produce becomes a baseline standard. This would mean that customers now have a choice of high-quality produce. This results in quality no longer becoming a strong differentiator alone, but an expectation.
Marketing is predominantly about increasing awareness, recall and recognition. If your brand is at the top-of-mind, the first brand to come into the mind of the customer, it could often lead to a purchase decision. In this case, the characteristics of your product, the experiential elements and the quality of your produce will then have to meet up to your promise and the expectations of the customer. But first and foremost, you need to capture their awareness and interest before the produce will be considered.
Marketing is about understanding the customer.
Marketing now plays a role. Beyond selling and promotion, it is about the customers. It is about understanding customers in terms of their preferences, flavour profiles and relevance to their lifestyle. The value in this instance for a carrot would be how sweet and how crunchy it is for a child’s lunchbox or if it is to be cooked in curries. Bringing awareness to how and when your produce fits into the lifestyle of a customer becomes relevant to providing a healthy lunchbox solution to the customer.
Avocado in recent years have seen an increase in marketing efforts to drive customer demand. One of the marketing efforts was to educate customers of the ripening process of avocados, which leads to the optimal point in time for customers to select, buy and eat an avocado. While it is a relatively simple marketing solution to educate the customer, it can help to inform and set customer expectations. In turn, adding value to the customer experience by reducing a poor choice when shopping.
The bottom-line is that understanding your customers will lead to better ways of delivering value. It can come in the form of better functional packaging or superior taste. When you can deliver greater value to your customers, they are more likely pay a higher price for your produce, especially when it is your point of differentiation. Ultimately, marketing and branding goes beyond a logo, brand name and price incentives, it is about continuously creating, communicating and delivering value to customers. While lower prices might win over a customer in the short term, it still goes beyond low prices to deliver long term customer and market value. MORE INFORMATION If you are interested in this area for your business please contact Ben Hamilton — vegetablesWA for more information at ben.hamilton@vegetableswa.com.au, phone (08) 9486 7515 or go to www.vegetableswa.com.au
WA Grower SUMMER 2021
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