Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
3. Draw a product life-cycle curve for large, four-wheel-drive farm tractors. Where would
you estimate this product's life cycle is currently? Why? What might manufacturers do
to prolong its life?
4. If you were introducing a new electronic dairy feeding system that would reduce feed-
ing costs by 20 to 25 percent, what pricing policy would you suggest? Why? Would you
stay with this policy indefi nitely? Why?
5. You are the marketing manager for a retail food company that has a new 16 ounce fruit
juice product, packaged in a reusable squirt-type bottle. Your target market is the active
18-25 year-old consumer group. Develop a promotion plan for this new product. What
market communication tools would you use?
6. You are the marketing manager for a large animal health company. Your fi rm has just
developed a very effective anthelmetic (wormer) for cattle. Your target market is large
feedlot operations in the western United States. Develop a promotion plan for this new
product. What market communications tools would you use?
7. Based on your personal experiences and observations, how do salespeople vary from
industry to industry? Why do we see these differences? Discuss some of these differ-
ences for:
a) a salesperson at an electronics superstore
b) a fi eld salesperson at an agricultural cooperative
c) a car salesperson
d) a loan offi cer at a bank
e) a salesperson for an advertising agency
8. Compare and contrast the role of a salesperson for a large food or agricultural
input manufacturer with that of a local salesperson for a dealer or retail organization.
If possible, interview these two types of salespersons. Where do they spend their
time, i.e., what types of activities make up their week? Who do they report to?
What type of records are they required to keep? Without getting specifi c, how are
they paid?
9. What are the advantages of a manufacturer's selling directly to a farmer rather than to a
distributor? Why can a dealer sometimes do a better job marketing to farmers than a
manufacturer can?
10. Some retail food stores offer a service where they sell products via the Internet. Here,
using communications software, the customer accesses the fi rm's inventory and price
list through their website, chooses what they want, and the fi rm delivers the choices to
the home at a time convenient to the customer. What do you see as the advantages
of this system? What do you see as the disadvantages?
Case study: PecsBake
PecsBake is a medium-sized bakery company that supplies fresh baked breads and tradi-
tional Hungarian pastries to retail groceries in Southwestern Hungary. Pecs (say Paytch) is
the fi fth largest city in Hungary and a popular tourist destination near the Croatian border.
On a recent management training and business development trip to the United States, the
company's top management visited many American supermarkets. In the refrigerated goods
sections they saw products not currently present in the Hungarian market—refrigerated
breakfast pastry dough ready-made for microwave preparation, packaged in special card-
board/can containers. There were two common package sizes: two servings per container
and six servings per container.
