Tools that help farmers communicate the value of local food to consumers.

Consumers are under increasing pressure to shop as citizens of the planet; not as consumers.  This has increased the complexity of the choices they have to make about food.  When deciding what to buy, consumers are being asked to keep many issues front-of-mind; such as:

-          - Was this product made:

o   Sustainably?

o   Ethically?

o   Organically?

o   Morally?

o   Humanely?

o   Environmentally friendly?

o   Locally?

o   Safely?

o   With concern for animal welfare?

……to name just a few.   

So what do consumers want?  They need answers to these questions that will point to an easy solution to their problem i.e. how do I know that a product meets the above requirements?  This is the value (help) they are willing to pay for.

When I was doing Maths I & II back in school I discovered that if I knew the answer first, I could work out the correct formula that answered the original question, much faster than if I was given the question first and was asked to process a formula of information to work out the answer.  In the former, I was still learning but I wanted the quickest path to home and was more successful getting the questions right.  Not the conventional way to learn at the time; but a better learning experience.

The key to helping consumers make the right choices we want about the food they buy is to simply GIVE THEM THE ANSWERS.  Never ask a consumer to find the answer.  Give them the immediate experience of making the right choice.

I see a lot of initiatives at the moment providing great information about the agricultural and agribusiness industry that are failing to change behaviour because the consumer is still left to work things out for themselves.

The key message about a product needs to be quick, simple and blatantly obvious.  The solution to their concerns (i.e. the right product) then needs to be readily accessible otherwise the consumer won’t change their buying behaviour.

The advantage farmers have is they are in the best position to help with answers and solutions; and are regarded as a believable and trustworthy source – very good start.  So how can farmers get better at communicating value to consumers?

Here are a couple of tools that farmers can use to strip-down their knowledge and understanding into some effective, bite-size messages for consumers.   As simple as these techniques are; they still demonstrate how hard it is to strip information back to a message that means something to consumers.

The 5-Whys

You may have heard of the 5-Whys as part of Lean Six Sigma.  5-Whys is a questioning technique developed by Toyota and is used to find the root cause of a problem; the idea being that by asking Why? 5-times the problem and the solution will become clear.

-          - Initial problem statement:

o   ‘The printing press broke down’

- Why?

- Why?

- Why?

- Why?

- Why?

The first problem statement is questioned Why?  Each subsequent answer is questioned again Why?  If need be you can continue questioning past 5.

I believe the 5-Whys are a great marketing tool for working out how to effectively communicate the root value of a product.  The 5-Whys are designed to point to the process, to quickly identify the problem in simple terms.  Coincidently, the issues consumers are being asked to consider when buying food are all about the process i.e. consumers need answers about the process in simple terms.  So why not use the same method to point to the food process in simple terms for the consumer?!

Try it for yourself.  Basic example of process:

-          - Initial value statement:

o   ‘Cherries from the Adelaide Hills are the best’

- Why? Because our cherries are plump and rich in flavour.

- Why? They are plump and rich flavour because of the soil and climate.

- Why? The soil and climate means that..................

- Why? ................etc

- Why? ................etc

This technique can be used for individual products or regional marketing.

The Message Map 

The Message Map is a quick and compact process that enables farmers to communicate their story simply, clearly, concisely and quickly; using the messages created through the 5-Whys technique.  It ensures the messages are compelling enough for consumers.

The process looks like this:

-          - Step 1

o   A ‘Twitter-friendly’ headline

- A single over-arching message that you want potential consumers to know about your product

- No more than 140 characters

- Keep asking ‘what is the single most important thing we want consumers to know about our product?

-          - Step 2

o   Support your main message with 3 key benefits

- Specifically outline the 3 most important benefits of your product

-          - Step 3

o   Reinforce your 3 key benefits

- Support the above claims

- Be very specific

- Use stories, statistics and examples

- These are points that will prompt the delivery of the message

In most instances, collaboration is needed with down-stream customers of the food chain to ensure the above messages are positioned in the right place for consumers to see them; and that the solution products are made readily available and can be easily accessed by consumers to complete their purchasing decision; in favour of the products that met their needs.

Alternatively, some farmers are now vertically integrating their marketing and delivering messages of value to consumers farm-direct from a regional base and this is exciting to see.