Study Horticultural Marketing
In any business, including horticulture, success depends upon good marketing of your product.
This course covers the theoretical and practical importance of marketing in the horticultural industry, including topics such as advertising, promotions, signs, customer relations, pricing strategy, labeling, transport, product presentation, and more!
Lesson Structure
There are 7 lessons in this course:
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Introduction to Horticultural Marketing
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Horticultural Marketing Processes
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Horticultural Marketing Methods
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Customer Service
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Horticultural Marketing Research
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Developing An Advertising Program
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Developing An Horticultural Marketing Strategy
Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.
Aims
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Explain different components of the marketing process which may be used in the horticultural industry.
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Explain different marketing methods for horticultural products and services.
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Explain the role of customer service in horticultural marketing.
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Conduct market research into a product or service in the horticultural industry.
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Develop an advertising program for an horticultural enterprise.
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Develop an appropriate marketing strategy for a given horticultural situation.
What's Horticultural Marketing Involve?
Horticultural marketing involves promotion, sale, distribution and after sales service.
- It can relate to both goods and services
- It can relate to both unprocessed or processed products
- Horticultural products fall into two main groups:
- plant products and non plant products
- non plant products; used in horticultural practices
- Services can embrace a wide variety of things, from horticultural media to education and consulting services.
Horticulture Plant Produce vs. Horticulture Plant Products
- Horticulture produce = the initial produce before it has been 'tampered' with e.g. apples
- Horticulture product = derived from horticultural produce e.g. canned apple puree.
Production planning should be geared to market demand.
Characteristics of Horticulture Produce
The following may be desirable characteristics; but the significance of each criteria may vary from one criteria to the next, depending upon the type of product and situation.
- Homogeneous: produce is all generically the same no matter who grows it
- Perishability: needs refrigeration, freezing, processing
- Bulk in relation to value
- Seasonal supply
- Variability of supply (week to week and between seasons)
- Biological supply curve: if production activity is abandoned the production can cease very quickly, and it takes time to get it going again
- Need for grading to produce a standardised product
- Uncoordinated approach from producers competing against each other (need a united front e.g. co-operative societies, producer boards)
- Geographical separation of production and markets
- Timing of sales: every day, week, season? For example, fruit must be sold when ripe in large handling capacity.
Marketing is concerned with relating the supply of products to its potential demand in such a way as to satisfy the needs and wants of buyers and create a profit for the supplier.
The process of marketing is that of transferring goods and/or services from producer to consumer at a profit. It should add maximum value to the product at minimum cost.
The marketing manager/personnel are concerned with such activities as:
- Pricing
- Selling
- Merchandising
- Advertising
- Promotion
- Packaging
- Market research
- Transport
- Destination
- Placement
- Planning
- Accounting.
In fact, all those processes which will enable he/she to maximise the added value.
Marketing in the fullest sense of the word is ‘the name of the game’, and the ‘game’ is fundamentally concerned with ‘competition’.
Marketing today is a consumer-based approach to business activities where each aspect of business is co-ordinated in terms of what the consumer wants.
So, marketing is not just selling!
