Market dynamics are forcing many in agribusiness to reinvent business models to sustain innovation and meet customer needs. Large shifts in world food demand combined with the multiple facets of technological change are challenging the agricultural sector to keep pace. The race to produce something of value makes it more critical than ever to have a competitive advantage in this market. Ergo, the company that spends the time involving customers in the innovation process will see a completely new world of opportunities open up to them.
CUSTOMER-DRIVEN INNOVATION
If the trend holds, the optimal response strategy is customer-driven innovation. Customer-driven innovation is the creation of a product or service in response to an unmet need in the marketplace. It’s when a supply chain responds directly to a demand set by a segment of the market. With the increasing prevalence of connected devices, companies have a clear opportunity to respond directly to customer needs. According to Juniper Research, 38.5 billion connected devices will be in use in 2020.
Hyperconnectivity leaves a strong digital trail (data) about individual buying patterns, personal preferences and people’s locations, and hints at future outcomes and trends. There’s a surplus of data available for mining from social networks to mobile devices to analysis of Wi-Fi and GPS data from websites. The data captured from these platforms offer deeper insights into how products can be refined, as well as a keen vision of customers.
Social media enables farmers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers to facilitate discussions around their products and brand for informed product development decisions. Social listening allows the agricultural industry to better understand target audience viewpoints, as well as the types and volumes of products each is likely to buy.
At Elevation Marketing, we complement and supplement internal marketing teams, helping agribusiness assess and act on customer insights. Strictly focused on B2B marketing, we provide data-driven strategies to innovate and compete in target markets. Our unique insights serve as the groundwork for customer-driven innovation and market demand strategies.
We view audiences as active contributors. We observe their behaviors and listen to their opinions to refine what messaging will resonate well with the audience for successful market positioning that meets unsatisfied customer demand.
Learn how Elevation Marketing’s data-driven product launch created a value proposition, tripling revenue for Agrium Advanced Technologies (Direct Solutions). Download the case study here.
