Marketing Strategies: How Long Will it Take?

By Daniel W. Block
D.W. Block Associates

Hybrid seed corn took well over a decade to become fully accepted by Midwestern corn farmers when it was originally introduced. This is especially noteworthy, considering the obvious advantages of hybrid corn over common varieties available at the time.

If we learn the marketing lesson in this story, it could increase the speed with which our products and services are adopted.

Dividing a tractor

Many factors determine how fast a new product becomes fully diffused through a market. One is called divisibility. Can your product be tried on a limited basis?

Farm equipment companies have recognized their product’s poor divisibility, and have developed strategies to deal with it. Most noteworthy is the practice of lending farm implements to farmers in a test run. Farmers cannot sample a little bit of a tractor, and the risk of purchasing one is great. So lending equipment is an effective method of overcoming poor divisibility.

Seed companies, on the other hand, have been fortunate. Seed is highly divisible. At very low risk a farmer can sample a limited amount of seed to observe its results, and in a relatively short amount of time (as opposed to the livestock industry, for example) will see those results.

So seed should have a relatively brief period between introduction and full acceptance in the market. But that is not necessarily the case.

Understanding a seed

Complexity also determines the rate of adoption. How complicated or complex is the concept of one’s product to understand?

Compared to machinery or electronics, hybrid corn is dramatically simple. Yet when it was introduced, it was a difficult concept for farmers to grasp.

For decades corn farmers had been selecting their seed corn using traditional practices, like examining color, kernel size, or knowing the farmer from whom they intended to purchase their seed corn. Then along came these "university boys" using words like hybrid vigor, heterosis, F1 and F2 crosses and the like.

In spite of the obvious field trail results from hybrid corn, the new technology and concepts were too much to swallow all at once, and full adoption was slow.

Selling biotechnology

With the onset of new biotechnologies, the issue of complexity becomes important for marketing managers. What are the strategies to deal with this factor? Most important is that of education.

Regardless of where one is in the distribution channel, marketers must enhance their products with education and information. One no longer simply sells seed, he sells results in the form of a bundle of physical characteristics, such as seed, and service features including education and information. Education eliminates ignorance, and therefore fear, and when fear of new technologies is eliminated customers will more rapidly adopt your product.

It becomes obvious that an important role of the sales force is educating the buyer. One seed firm has recently become so concerned with the importance of their salespeople becoming teachers that they have introduced a program of sales force training that includes not only product knowledge, but instruction on teaching and more effective communication.

Any firm that is or will be involved in introducing new practices or technologies must be preparing their sales effort to include an educational component that reaches customers on their level.

Marketing communications must strike a balance between scientifically correct and technically sound data, while speaking in terms and scenarios that the farmer is familiar with. This can be done at company sponsored seminars, sales meetings, newsletters or in the actual sales presentation.

Who should do the talking?

This balance can be appreciated when selecting the right person to feature in a sales communication effort. The research scientist has value in that he is very credible and technically knowledgeable. Nevertheless, he may be poor at relating to the customer, and talk over the customer’s head.

The salesperson, on the other hand, is usually a better communicator, but does not have the technical credibility, and often does not know what he is talking about. Firms must strive to develop a hybrid salesperson of their own, one who can effectively communicate, and also has technical expertise.

This educational thrust should be evident in the advertising a firm does, its publicity and public relations outreach, and in the packaging and product enhancement. Complexity as a determinant of the rate of adoption has been affecting the seed industry for years, but, as technologies advance its impact on marketing strategies is increasing and must be addressed in ways that help our customers learn and consequently buy.