Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
very seriously. Market-driven fi rms invest in
market research
to better understand their
customers, then use the information generated to guide decision making. These are agri-
business fi rms that are focused on building a long-term relationship with their targeted cus-
tomers and fi rms that are willing to make some short-run sacrifi ces to do this. This focus on
the right relationship with customers becomes the overarching goal for the market-driven
organization. Some other key differences between product/sales-driven fi rms and market-
driven fi rms are summarized in
Table 6.1.
The remainder of this chapter focuses on the keys
to building a market-driven strategy.
As a sales and marketing professional, you may work for a company which deploys a
combination of marketing strategies within its product lineup. Understanding each of these
marketing techniques, along with the company's goals, can help you better succeed in
achieving your employer's goals.
Components of a strategic marketing plan
The
strategic marketing plan
integrates all business activities and resources logically to
meet customers' needs and to generate a profi t. It involves fi ve sets of marketing activities
and decisions that must fi t together in a consistent fashion (
Figure 6.1)
:
1
Conduct a SWOT analysis
2
Choose a target market
3
Choose a position
4
Develop the appropriate marketing mix
5
Evaluate and refi ne the marketing plan
Building a strategic marketing plan involves a careful assessment of the marketplace. A
SWOT analysis
(strengths, weaknessness, opportunities, threats) is an objective evaluation
of the fi rm's strengths and weaknesses and its opportunities and threats. The focus of this
analytic phase is to uncover business opportunities and challenges and to understand what
advantages the fi rm brings to the market and where the fi rm is at a disadvantage.
Conducting a sound SWOT analysis is critical for both fi rms and sales and marketing
professionals. It is common to want to talk about our strengths and opportunities.
Understanding where your company and your products are strongest helps you know, under-
stand, and articulate those benefi ts to your customers and prospects. At the same time, a
good SWOT analysis helps you better understand your weaknesses and threats. Admitting
and understanding those weaknesses can best allow alignment of marketing messages, posi-
tioning and pricing to minimize their effects. Ultimately, a fi rm understanding of weak-
nesses and threats can help you best position your products and services and mitigate risks
in presenting to prospects and customers.
Based on an assessment of market opportunities and an evaluation of the fi rm, an agri-
business will select a target market (or target markets)—a group/s of customers who will
respond in similar fashion to a given offer. Consistent with the needs of the target market,
the fi rm will defi ne what
position
it wants to take in the market. Here the focus is deciding
what the fi rm wants to be known for among the target customers.
This position is created by a set of key decisions a marketer must make—the marketing
mix. The
marketing mix
is often referred to as the four Ps of marketing—product decisions,
price decisions, promotion decisions, and place (or distribution) decisions. Finally, since
markets are dynamic with customer needs continually changing and competitors always on
