Over the last few months I have been presenting at conferences where growers and retailers have been present. The conversation has often led to supply chain management and marketing; marketing being the major concern.
Retailers often challenging the growers for their lack of marketing initiatives and growers challenging retailers for not having a marketing strategy.
Before looking at the challenges and opportunities available within our industry, it is worth taking a step back and looking at what other industries are doing.
For me, one industry that is closely related to ours, which I admire, is the paint industry. Compared to our industry the product they hand to the customer is fairly boring, most of it is presented in a round tin with a wrapper around it. But, as manufacturers they are fully aware that they need to understand their consumer’s exceptionally well. They work with colour fashion consultants to plan colour trends and work on marketing strategies to promote the emotional benefits of their product.
Having developed their marketing strategies they then develop retail strategies both in the way they product should be merchandised and displayed which they then offer the retailer in a partnership relationship.
The manufacturer puts a complete marketing strategy together to offer to the retailer. Their supply chain marketing is well managed, plus they are aiming at exactly the same consumer that the garden manufacturers are aiming at.
Miriam Young, the Dutch based marketing communications specialist has worked internationally with the horticultural industry over a number of years. Her views and insights on what is happening now in horticultural supply chain marketing and what needs to happen are very similar views to my own.
She believes one of the marketing failures in our industry is that too often we fail because of the lack of communications between the trading partners. The reason she believes this has and is taking place is that we have been a “comfortable” trading industry. Our consumer over the decades has tended to be gardener, we have had a captive audience who have enjoyed gardening and have had a reasonable knowledge of plants.
2008 Wake Up Call
That comfort zone has now gone. These gardeners are retiring and the new “Jones Generation” consumer does not have the same knowledge or skills and expects more from the supply chain to help them make a purchase.
These consumers are looking for inspiring projects and are in the lifestyle market, not the gardening market. They are constantly exposed to what other industries, such as the paint industry are doing, and expect the same degree of marketing from our industry.
What is the Supply Chain?
The best judge of what consumers want must be the retailer. They are identifying on a daily basis, what is stimulating consumers to spend. This means retailers have the opportunity and the responsibility to communicate this to the rest of the industry.
Retailers often forget that the grower may go for weeks without seeing a consumer, whilst they see them daily and can monitor trends.
According to Miriam there is a need for a mindset change by retailers. The majority of them look on themselves as “product sellers”. When what they need to be is “product development leaders”. They should become the leaders in the chain in bringing product ideas to the industry to ensure innovation in products and promotions are developed.
The Supplier’s Role
Every product in any industry that is developed is made to satisfy consumers’ needs or wants. The role of the originator of the product is to make sure that everyone in the distribution chain is fully aware of, and can readily get hold of the relevant information to ensure they can maximise the opportunities to generate sales maximise the opportunities to generate sales and also make sure the product is presented to the consumer in the most inspiring way.
It is the grower and manufacturers role to put the marketing strategy together. They are the maker of the product and having done their research, have more information to them on this specific product than the retailer.
In previous articles I have often talked about people buying stories. When developing a marketing strategy it is the supplier’s role to present clear, consumer considered stories that will sell the product.
According to Miriam, this means that the product supplier of the past, now has to become a “promotion base generator” if they are to develop plants and products that will maximise sales for everyone in the supply chain.
The Role of the Distributor
Most manufacturers and growers rely on a distributor, a person or organisation in the middle of the supply chain. What an ideal position to be in. This person of organisation is getting promotion based generator material from manufacturers and growers and promotional ideas from their retailers. They are getting the information to build the complete picture. This is the position of power as they often hold the answers we all seek to maximise the opportunities. In Miriam’s scenario these “goods traders” are now “trading marketing concepts”. They are the crucial link in supply chain marketing.
In developing this concept, we all need to be aware that this process is happening in other lifestyle retail networks.
I had a meeting recently with an outdoor activities retail organisation that is expanding rapidly. When I talked them though this process, they were surprised that not every business had this strategy, they felt it was essential for survival.
The garden industry has been a lucky industry; its comfort zone has lasted longer than many other industries. But, these traditional comfort zones are disappearing rapidly as the new consumer demands a different approach.
The challenge we have is to generate open forums where all the stakeholders can get together and share the ideas that will grow our industry.
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