Nike's a marketing company that uses shoes to market itself. What?!

Hugh's Reviews:

"We've come around to saying that Nike is a
marketing-oriented company, and the product
is our most important marketing tool."

— Phil Knight, Nike

 

 

Nike is a marketing company whose primary marketing tool is the product.

That's what Phil Knight said in the quote above. Hmmm.

Joe Pine says, "The Experience is the Marketing." Hmmm.

Ben Beaver said, "Barely a fraction of marketing budgets are spent training staff."

Catching the trend here? So often I'm asked what the best marketing or advertising method is, so often I'm asked how to get new customers. The answer is the take care of the customers you have and to the extent that you force them to talk about you. Instead of fretting over the right advertising, fret over your employees training; over them knowing as much about your business as you do; over them worrying about customer's enjoyment of the experience.

Ben says it's cheaper! It's cheaper to thrill a customer who is about to have a bad experience (i.e. cold pie, spoiled apples, no help in your maze, bump on the playground, etc.) than it is to lose that customer and have them tell others you suck.

Think about it: Your customer service multiplies your advertising dollars.

• Ex. If ad dollars are positive for business x positive customer service = BIG positive for business.Ex. 
• If ad dollars are positive for business x NEGATIVE customer service = BIG NEGATIVE for business NO MATTER HOW POSITIVE THE AD DOLLARS!

We are all marketing companies whose main marketing tool is our products and experiences. If it's true for Phil Knight and Nike, how much more so is it for family entertainment experiences on our farms?

 

Your rallying cry.

If you're feeling low on motivation, you need to work on your rallying cry. Sometimes you get things done and you don't know what to do next. Sometimes you have so much to do in so many areas, you find it had to start work on anything! What you need is a "rallying cry", a vision of the future, so bright and attractive that it formulates your priorities for you and pulls you toward the goal.

I was feeling down. I had just come back from a successful trip to the UK visiting new clients, touring the countryside, laying out a maze. It was a big achievement and took a lot of energy from all involved - it was a success. When I returned however, I found so much on my plate a was paralyzed. I nearly had a panic attack when I wrote out my lists on my white board (which is 4ft x 6ft) and ran out of space.

Out of balance. I also realized that, like everyone occasionally is, I was out of balance. We have had wonderful success on the franchise and product side of the equation, but I had been neglecting the pre-season prep for my home park, it was raining every day with no end in sight, and I hadn't done a thing to market the 2011 season.

One thing leads to another. As you know, when the list is big there are routinely bottlenecks. You'll start on a task, say marketing to scouts only to find that you need, first to update the web page and remake the brochure, but you need pictures for the brochure, then you need to find the pictures, then you need to convert them, then load them to your web page, then the phone rings, then AAARGH! One thing leads to another and another until nothings done. You can't seem to complete anything. Paralyzed.

Change your routine. If you've been working outside a lot, move inside. If you've been working alone in your office, call someone in to work with you. Break the routine and think about a vision or goal that's further down the road. I called Michelle in to have a planning meeting for our home park group marketing. During the meeting we came up with, not only definite steps and tasks to complete, but as we talked through things we came up with an opening weekend "rallying cry"; a greater purpose for our opening weekend.

My rallying cry. What was it? "Robin Hood's Helping Harvest" We're going to make our opening weekend (Aug 6-7) FREE, but only if you bring in two canned food items per person. It aligned our group leader open house day, our parade marketing, our initial PR campaign - everything - behind something we believe in: feeding people. Not to mention, it goes pretty darn well with our "Adventures of Robin Hood" themed corn maze! Robin Hood's mission was to help those needing help!

What's your rallying cry? What motivates you and your troops? What is the foundation of your next marketing season? Feeling overwhelmed? Sure, having a rallying cry isn't going to get your work done for you. It isn't going to give you less work to do. It might increase the work load, but when you're working on something you believe in, it's hardly work at all.

Feeling paralyzed? Re-motivate yourself by finding your rallying cry... and stay tuned for "Hugh In Tights".

Have a great week.
- Hugh

Look Ma, No Hands! Testing Auto-steer on the big tractor.

Farmer Matt tests out John Deere's Auto Steer and finds you can do even less work than normal.

 

NEW Maize Quest Launches "The Interactive Orchard" QR Code System.

Maize Quest Brings Quick Response Code Technology to Help Farm Marketers Educate and Entertain Customers About Apples with The Interactive Orchard.

New Park, PA – (May 2011) Got a smart phone? Your customers do, or at least half of them will by fall harvest 2011 says The Nielsen Company (See attached graph). Walk into any BestBuy or scan your favorite mainstream magazine and the advertisers are using QR Codes to provide rich media to customers. Now farm marketers can use rich media, including videos, to sell and educate an increasingly “smartphone-carrying” customer base.

In an effort to easily connect farmers and direct marketers of apples to this rapidly expanding audience, Maize Quest created a tool to link farm market customers to apple variety videos on their smartphones. It’s called The Interactive Orchard. Hang the signs in the orchard or in the farm market. Guests scan them and watch informational apple video clips.

"Let guests use the tools they already have to learn more about your apples," says Hugh McPherson, Maize Quest President and co-host for the apple videos. "We’ve made it easy for farms like ours to educate and entertain our customers with their own smartphones! The best part is there's no technical set-up for the farmer.”
 

This is the QR Code for the Interactive Orchard’s Red Delicious video. Farm market guests use iPhone apps such as NeoReader, Optiscan, StickBits, Barcode, ScanLife. Android apps include NeoReader, QR Droid, ScanLife, Kaywa. Blackberry apps include Mobiletag, I-nigma. All apps are free and available from the smartphones “App Store.”

QR Codes, or Quick Response Codes, are links to other media contained in a two-dimensional barcode. It is a way to get more information to the customer than a standard apple variety sign can communicate. Guests scan the QR Code to ‘upgrade’ their media experience.

 

Click here to watch the Interactive Orchard "What is it?" video.

With the Interactive Orchard specifically, guests upgrade from a simple sign to a video, description, picture, and list of uses for the apple. If they bookmark each apple’s pages on their phone, they keep that information for the next time they visit the farm market.

Here’s how it works: Farms purchase the special signs, one each for popular varieties of apples, then display the signs in their pick-your-own orchards or at point-of-purchase in their farm markets. Each colorful sign displays a picture of the apple variety and a QR Code that links to the Interactive Orchard’s mobile web site, videos and database.

Guests scan the QR Code using their smartphones and a free, downloadable application. They are immediately linked to the Interactive Orchard’s apple variety page. Each apple variety page contains a picture of the apple, a description, typical uses and a video describing the apple and giving some fun facts.

“Just because technology isn’t your thing, doesn’t mean you should miss out on using QR Codes to inform your guests,” says McPherson. “Instead of making videos, programming web sites, finding scanners and all that, you just order and hang the signs and your guests do the rest! We’ve tried to make it easy.”

Maize Quest solved the technology side of the equation for the farm marketer by building the mobile web site, creating the codes, designing the signs, and filming the videos. All the local farm marketer has to do is order and hang the full-color, UV-protected vinyl signs. A package of 10 full-color apple variety signs costs $399 with no recurring fees. (Click to download order forms now.)

The Interactive Orchard project is a creation of the Maize Quest technical team, that usually works on creating web sites, designs and games for corn mazes. Maple Lawn Farms, Adams County Nurseries and Hollabaugh Orchards and even the Pennsylvania Apple Marketing Board contributed to the database of information guests discover after scanning the codes.

"You’ve got to engage the customer," says Ellie Hollabaugh Vranich, Assistant Business Manager at Hollabaugh Bros and co-host in the apple videos. "This is a great opportunity for farms to provide information for a public that is interested in learning more about their food. Plus, all you’ve got to do is hang up the signs.”

To contact Maize Quest to order Interactive Orchard signs for your farm market call Hugh at 1-866-935-6738 ext 102 or www.InteractiveOrchard.com to download order forms and choose your apple varieties.

 

 

NEW Product: iPod Hayride Audio System

 

Maize Quest Launches New iPod/MP3-based Hayride Audio Box To The Agritourism and Haunted Hayride Industries.

Maize Quest designed the original Hayride Audio system back in 2007 to revolutionize and standardize the way farms where able to give educational information.  By allowing the driver to give a pre-recorded tour at exactly the right time by simply pushing a button, Maize Quest drastically reduced the need for farms to have a tractor driver who was also a great tour guide.

The original 8-Button Hayride Box from Maize Quest is the workhorse of the industry, because there is nothing like it.

Now there's a new, lower cost option for smaller farms or farms with different requirements for tours. It starts at just $350.

When would you use the iPod Hayride Audio system?

• If you have just one wagon and generally run the same tour with one driver.
• If you do most of the tours yourself, or just have one driver who likes to do the tour, but you need a mic.
• If you don't really do a big "tour" but need a way to give a safety announcement or correct poor behavior.
• If you have a small wagon and don't need the power of the 8-Button Hayride Audio System.
• If you just want music, not "tours by button" functionality.

What's included?

• The box/enclosure and 15w amp.
• Power cable to tractor battery.
• Bypass mic for announcements.
• Cable to iPod/MP3 player's headphone jack.
• iPod is NOT included.

Why use ANY Hayride Audio System?

• Standardize your messaging for safety: The first question a lawyer will ask when you get sued by a customer is "How did you notify my client of the hazard?" The Hayride Audio system allows you to answer that it happens every ride, every time with the same EXACT message. Do not rely on your employees to remember to say the right words!
• Standardize your tours: If you have more than one driver, (even if your one driver is human), the tour can be different each time. As school budgets tighten, make sure that you are the school tour provider with the highest-quality educational experience that's top-quality every time. With pre-recorded tours, you know each student gets the best tour possible.
• Reduce your driver requirement: If you do tours without any audio support, you need drivers who drive well, are fun tour guides, and are LOUD. That's a steep requirement these days! With the Maize Quest Hayride Audio System, you can have ANY safe driver give a good quality tour by playing a track (iPod system) or pushing a button (Premium 8-Button Box system.)

The NEW iPod Hayride Audio System is a great way to get started standardizing your safety announcements and farm tours. Call Hugh at 1-866-935-6738 ext 102 to learn more or download order sheets to get your order in now!

 

Premium 8-Button Hayride Audio system.