Posts Tagged ‘AdFarm’

15 Things I Learned About California Agriculture

By Josh Lysne, December 21, 2010

The AdFarm Crew

Some colleagues and I were in Fresno California for a social media training session with 71 fantastic farmers on December 13th. The next day, we got the opportunity to travel around the farmland around Fresno and learn about some of the crops grown in the area.

Our tour guide for the day was Mandy Critchley, a farmer and fellow marketer in the Fresno area. She lined up a jam packed day of farm tours that…well…blew my mind. On our tour, we visited SunWest Fruit Company, Sun-Sweet Growers, Mandy’s Blueberry farm, Summerhill Dairy, Bari Olive Oil and Double E Farms.

To say the day was educational is an understatement. It’s amazing what you can learn about farming and farming practices when you take some time to talk to a farmer about it. They are so inspirationally passionate about what they do. Truly an inspiring day.

15 Things I Learned About California Agriculture

• Fresh California Cura Cura oranges are a slice of heaven.
• Oranges can stay on the tree for months without going bad.
• Dried on vine or DOV raisins have no additives or coatings. (Sun-Maid)
• Goats getting milked 2 times per day only produce 3-4 gallons of milk per day.
• Goat milk is very similar to breast milk.
• While it has lactose, goat milk has a different form of lactose which is typically ok for people that normally can’t have milk. (see your doctor first )
• Different goats have a different milk makeup. Saanens have high milk volume, Nubian has high butter fat.
• One acre of California olives produces 30-42 gallons of extra virgin olive oil.
• Olives for extra virgin olive oil must be processed within 24 hours of picking.
• Only 1% of the olive oil consumed in the United States is grown in California. (and it is fantastic)
• Canopy control for almonds is important. More light, more almonds.
• The way you canopy grapes is very different for raisin grapes, table grapes and wine grapes. (Not totally sure why, can anyone tell me?)
• It takes at least 2 ½ bee hives per acre of almonds for pollination.
• There are 120 almond trees per acre. (at least on Double E Farms)
• It takes 5-7 years after planting a walnut tree to get a crop.

Countless things did not make the list. It was a day which ended up in information overload to say the least. The facts are great, but I’d say my biggest takeaway of the day was the passion and pride each and every farmer we talked to had about their farm or ranch. They love the land, they love the tradition and take tremendous pride in what they do. I have more and more respect for farmers, the tough business decisions they have to make, and the agriculture industry every time I get to experience a day like this.

Josh Lysne is the Director of Digital Strategy for AdFarm. Follow him on Twitter @jlysne.

Posted in Events | No Comments »

Tags: AdFarm, Agriculture, Almonds, Blueberry Farming, California, Citrus Farming, Goats, Grapes, Olive Oil, Raisins, Wine Grapes

Beyond an Audience of ONE.

By Colin N. Clarke, May 5, 2010

salesbattle1-300x225 When developing marketing communications plans and materials there is always the crucial “approval” phase where the decision is made to proceed. One significant challenge at this point is managing the personal subjectivity that tends to creep in. Time and time again, great communications concepts and ideas are tossed aside based on personal choices, at times undermining the potential impact of a tactic helping achieve a communications objective. Some of these may sound familiar:

I talked to a few people around the office and some didn’t like it.
I had my spouse look at it and s/he didn’t like this part of it.
I showed my Dad/Mom/Grandparent and they don’t understand it.
“I” just don’t like it.

The issue with placing credence in the above objections is often times your “audience of one” is not a true representative sample of the target audience the communications is seeking to reach. Many factors are considered in plan, campaign and tactic development including demographics, interests, product use patterns and more. In order to get the best possible evaluation on your marketing communications concepts and ideas you’ll want feedback from a solid segment of your target audience.

Focus on your audience first. Here are some points to help guide you:

Don’t assume that your target audience uses communications tools the same way you do. For example, you may not use RSS feeds and feel the need to crush a concept using RSS, but your audience may find great value in it.
Sit on the other side of the table when evaluating. Try not to think of the concepts and ideas from a company standpoint. Think of the concepts from your audience member standpoint. Remember, in most cases you are not the target audience.
Stay away from people’s opinions other than your target audience. Unless your co-worker, parent, spouse or friend is solidly a part of your target audience, don’t seek their opinion as you will simply get a subjective, reactive response.
Find means to engage your audience in the approval process. Focus groups, panels, test markets and other means are available to find out the true response of your audience to certain concepts. And new digital tools are making this easier and faster than ever before.

Bottom-line: You may be close to the work and close to the market, but don’t assume that you will react the same way as your target audience. They are often more astute, connected and discriminatory than you might give them credit for. Make the most of your marketing communications by reaching out to your customers for involvement and approval early. The impact at launch time will be well worth the effort.

Have you ever been surprised by a customer unexpectedly liking something you didn’t? If so, please share. It’s always great to learn from others.

Colin is a strategist for AdFarm who appreciates the common sense and no B.S. attitude of farmers and ranchers alike. Follow him on Twitter @colinnclarke or on Facebook at Facebook.com/cnclarke.

Posted in Marketing | No Comments »

Tags: AdFarm, audience analysis, communications objectives, communications planning, marketing planning, target audience

Don’t Let Your Marketing Fall Down…in the Last Four Feet

By Colin N. Clarke, February 22, 2010

Marketing communications, in simplest terms, helps put a customer or prospect in the right frame of mind to buy. It can educate, inform, advise, recommend, encourage, scare and influence a prospect, but it cannot make them buy. At some point someone or something (e-commerce for example) has to close the sale. A recent presentation by Datacore Marketing describes this as “The Last Four Feet.”

The Last Four Feet represents the final steps that a customer takes as they approach the sales counter (or online checkout). Without question this is the most important part of the process. Can you close the sale? avoidance300

Marketers place great emphasis on campaigns to the end-user or customer. Significant, sometimes huge budgets are invested to help put the target audience in the right frame of mind to buy. But too often, after marketing communications has done its job with the customer, the process falls down at the sales counter.

Picture a customer who receives direct communications on your product, investigates online, reads the reviews, talks to their friends and decides “I want to buy.” They enter the “store” to purchase, approach the checkout, and the salesperson (or process) says, “Have you seen the features on alternative product #2 over here?” At that point, in the last four feet, all of your marketing communications efforts are shot down by one missed communication.

So how do you avoid losing your customer at the sales counter? Here are four sure-fire steps that will help with “the last four feet.”

1) Educate your sales channel first – before any external customer communications begin. Be sure products and processes are easily understood (this applies to e-commerce too).

2) Let the channel in on the process early, ask for feedback and implement suggestions that will strengthen the relationship with the channel. If using e-commerce, be sure to test the checkout process to make sure it is intuitive and without distraction.

3) Involve the channel in the product or campaign roll out. Give the channel an active stake in the process that encourages their engagement. A kickoff event, an incentive, an interesting (but not burdensome) program.

4) Reinforce the sales process within your marketing communications. Suggest to the customer in your messaging the easiest route to purchase while reinforcing the same “easy route” to the channel audience.

Marketing communications can put the customer in the right frame of mind, but it can’t ring the till by itself. Include a solid channel strategy to make sure your marketing investment isn’t lost at the sales counter.

Have you ever dropped out of a sale at the counter? If so, what could the marketer have done differently?

Colin is a senior strategist for AdFarm who enjoys the deep dive into marketing strategy. Follow him on Twitter @colinnclarke or on Facebook at Facebook.com/cnclarke.

Posted in Marketing | 1 Comment »

Tags: AdFarm, channel strategy, e-commerce, marketing planning, marketing strategy, sales

Posts Tagged ‘AdFarm’