CHAPTER FOUR

MARKETING STRATEGIES FOR

AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS

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 Meaning of Product

Product is a good, service, or idea consisting of a bundle of tangible and

intangible attributes that satisfies consumers and is received in exchange for
money or some other unit of value.

 Product is anything that is offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use

or consumption that might satisfy a want or need.

 Broadly defined, products can include physical goods, information,

experiences, events, services, places, properties, organizations, persons, and
ideas

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 Product level

• Level 1. Core benefit:-is the fundamental reason the customer really buys. Hotel
gust really buys “sleep & rest.”

• Level 2.Basic product: - it is product parts that deliver the core benefit.

• Level 3. Expected product set of attributes & conditions that buyers expect when
they purchase the product.

• Level 4. Augmented Product: - it is an additional benefit that products offer for

customers.

• Level 5. Potential Product:-include all possible augmentation of the product or

offering that might undergo in the future…

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 Product Mix Dimensions

A product mix (or product portfolio) consists of all the product lines and items
that a particular seller offers for sale.

Colgate’s product mix consists of four major product lines: oral care, personal
care, home care, and pet nutrition. Each product line consists of several sub-
lines.

A company’s product mix has four important dimensions: width, length,

depth, and consistency.

Product mix width refers to the number of different product lines the company
carries.

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 Cont’d
• Product mix length refers to the total number of items a company carries within
its product lines.

• Product mix depth refers to the number of versions offered for each product in the
line.

• Finally, the consistency of the product mix refers to how closely related the
various product lines are in end use, production requirements, distribution
channels, or some other way.

• These product mix dimensions provide the handles for defining the company’s
product strategy.

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 Cont’d

 The company can increase its business in four ways.

• It can add new product lines, widening its product mix. In this way, its new lines
build on the company’s reputation in its other lines.

• The company can lengthen its existing product lines to become a more full-line
company.

• It can add more versions of each product and thus deepen its product mix.

• The company can pursue more product line consistency or less depending on
whether it wants to have a strong reputation in a single field or in several fields.

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 Cont’d

Generally:
• Product mix width–the number of product lines that the company produced

• Product mix length- the number of products produced within a product line or
the total number of items the company carries within its product lines.

• Product mix depth- the number of variances in each product offered in the
product line.

• Product consistency- how closely relates the various product lines to user
production requirements or distribution channels.

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 Product Line Decisions

• A product line is a group of products that are closely related because they
function in a similar manner, are sold to the same customer groups, are marketed
through the same types of outlets, or fall within given price ranges.

• The major product line decision involves product line length—the number of
items in the product line.

• The line is too short if the manager can increase profits by adding items; the line
is too long if the manager can increase profits by dropping items.

• Managers need to analyze their product lines periodically to assess each item’s
sales and profits and understand how each item contributes to the line’s overall
performance.

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 Cont’d
• Product line length is influenced by company objectives and resources. For
example, one objective might be to allow for up-selling.

• Another objective might be to allow cross-selling: HP sells printers as well as

cartridges.

• A company can expand its product line in two ways: by line filling or line
stretching.

• Product line filling involves adding more items within the present range of the line.

• Product line stretching occurs when a company lengthens its product line beyond its
current range. The company can stretch its line downward, upward, or both ways.

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 Product Branding and Packaging

Marketers say that “ branding is the art and cornerstone of marketing “.

Product Branding

• A brand is defined: as “As a name, term, sign, symbol or special design or some
combination of these elements that is intended to identify the goods or services
of one seller or a group of sellers.

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 Cont’d

• A brand differentiates these products from those of competitors” (AMA,

Chicago).

• A brand can be a brand name, brand mark, or trademark.

Brand name is that part that can be spoken, including letters, words, and
numbers, i.e. 7 UP.

Brand names simplify shopping, guarantee a certain level of quality and allow for
self-expression.

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 Cont’d
Brand mark elements of the brand that cannot be spoken, i.e. symbol

Trade mark-legal designation that the owner has exclusive rights to the brand or
part of a brand.

After companies identify their trademark, they entail the term “TM” or “R”.

 Trade name-the full legal name of the organization. .e.g. Ford, not the name for
a specific product.

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 Cont’d

Requirements of a good brand

A good brand must at least have the following characteristics:

• It should suggest something about the product's benefits and

qualities

• It should be easy to pronounce, recognize and remember

• It should be distinctive and not easy to confuse with others

• When exporting, it should translate easily into foreign languages.

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 The advantages and disadvantages of branding

Brand names tell the consumer something about the product's characteristics

help them to differentiate between products and identify which best meets their
needs.

 help them to draw consumers' attention to new products which might meet, or
better meet, their needs.

Producers and suppliers can also benefit from branding their products.

Branding makes it easier for a producer or seller to match his/her products to the
customers' needs.

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 Cont’d

 A distinctive seller's brand name and trademark make it possible to legally protect
unique product features.

 Branding also provides a basis for non-price competition by removing a product

from the commodity category.

 Lastly, market segmentation and target marketing are made more effective because
branding enables the producer to serve separate markets with separate products.

 There are also potential disadvantages attached to branding, for both producers and
consumers.

 In the case of the consumer, there are at least two possible disadvantages.

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 Cont’d

The possible disadvantages of branding for manufacturers, producers, or

suppliers include;

• Higher costs: Branded products tend to require heavy promotional support and
more stringent quality control to ensure the consistency of the brand.

• Adverse publicity: The relationship between the product and the enterprise
which produces and/or markets it is all the more apparent when that product is
branded.

• Brands that fail in the marketplace can place a stigma on an organization which
makes distributors and consumers cautious about handling or purchasing new
products/brands which that organization subsequently launches.
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 Cont’d

The higher price sometimes also carries a premium for the unique benefits
and/or features of the brand.

Brand proliferation: Whilst consumers generally like to have a degree of choice

when buying products, does encourage a proliferation of products.

The dangers of brand proliferation are only realized when the differences
between brands are either marginal or are not meaningful to the consumer and
yet, the supplier continues to support the brand rather than let market forces
dictate that it ought to be deleted from the organization’s product portfolio.

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 Product Packaging

 Packaging is a marketing activity concerned with the design and production of

the container or wrapper for a product.

The container or wrapper is called the package.

Packaging is closely related to labeling and branding because the label often
appears on the package and the brand typically on the label.

• “It is the package that communicates more to the consumer than the actual
product, at the point of purchase where the consumer decides.”

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 The functions of packaging

The protective function of packaging

Packaging provides physical protection for the product.

The typical product is handled many times between production and consumption.

It must allow the removal of metabolic heat during storage and transport and may
have to contain the product throughout the ripening process if it is a climacteric or
ripening fruit.

Another important function some packing provides relates to pilfering.

Packages have intentionally been designed oversized to make it more difficult for
shoplifters to conceal products about their person.

Packaging also serves to protect the consumer.

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 Cont’d

Importance of packaging

• Packaging serves several safety

• It is an important method of communication with the customer

• Providing ingredients and directions, which represent an image of the brand

• Well-packaged products may increase profit possibilities

• It stimulates customers to pay more just to get the special package.

• Can increase ease of handling or reduction in damage or losses.

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 Packaging of Agricultural Products

• The packaging of some of the agricultural products is discussed here under.

• Raw Vegetables and Fruits: Raw vegetables may be packed loose in bulk or
packed in containers for trading and transport.

• In the latter case, the vegetables should be packed in new loosely woven gunny
bags or wooden/plastic crates or in lined or unlined corrugated fiberboard boxes.

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 Cont’d
• Onion and Garlic: These should be packed in sound, clean, new loosely woven
gunny bags, net bags, bamboo baskets or palm leaf baskets or wooden crates or
lined or unlined corrugated fiberboard boxes, or in any other suitable manner so
as to allow proper aeration of the bulbs.

• Tomatoes: Tomatoes should be packed in baskets or wooden boxes or lined or

unlined corrugated fiberboard boxes.

• While packing, it should be ensured that the tomatoes are not unduly pressed
when the lid is closed.

• Chilies: Fresh chilies should be packed in gunny bags in bamboo baskets, or in

corrugated boxes, lined or unlined.

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 Cont’d

• Dressed Chicken: The drained and dressed birds should be packed into
suitable-sized polyethylene bags or other suitable packing material

• Fish: The fresh product should be packed in polyethylene-lined insulated

containers, made of plywood, country wood, or plastic.

• The thickness of insulation may vary from 15 to 30 mm depending upon

the storage period and the mode of transport.

• Thermo Cole or fiberglass may be used as insulation material.

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 Cont’d

• Juices, Jams, Jellies, and Marmalades: They should be packed in glass bottles
or open-top cans.

• Tomato juice is packed in glass or tinplate containers and hermetically sealed.

• Meat: Meat should be wrapped in polyethylene sheets or bags and delivered in

clean, rust-free, and closed containers.

• If the time involved in packaging and transport is more than 2 hours, the meat
should be covered with ice.

• The containers should have an outlet for drinking water resulting from the
melting of ice used to chill the meat.

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 Cont’d

• Cereal Flours: The cereal flours should be packed in 1, 2, 10, 20, 40, 65, 75, or
90 kg bags.

• For packages above 65 kg, the material for packaging should be either LDPE-
coated jute bag/LDPE-coated raffia bags or single sound A-twill or B-twill jute
bags.

• The bags used for smaller packs may be polyethylene bags or polyethylene-
lined jute bags.

• The mouth of the bag should be either machine-stitched or hand stitched.

• If it is hand stitched, the mouth should be rolled over and then stitched.

• The stitches should be in two rows with at least 14 stitches in each row for jute
bags of 65 kg and above. 25
 Choice of Packaging Materials

• Producers should first find out which types are locally available and select the
most cost-effective options, taking into account the following factors:

• Should it be resistant to fats or oils?

• Should it be a barrier to air or moisture? How much of a barrier is needed?

• Does the material melt at a low temperature, which would make it unsuitable?

• Can the material be printed locally?

• Are special filling or sealing machines required for the material?

• Can the containers be stacked when empty to reduce transport and storage costs?

• Can the material be re-used or disposed of with minimum environmental

pollution?
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 Cont’d

• Honey: The packing of honey should be in hygienically clean and wide-

mouthed glass containers in acid-resistant lacquered tinplate containers or in
suitable polyethylene containers.

• The screwed caps of glass containers should be of non-corrosive and non-

reactive material and should be provided with cork washers to avoid spilling.

• Eggs: although a fresh egg is highly perishable, it is protected by the eggshell,

which prevents loss of moisture and contamination by bacteria, insects, etc.

• this preserves the egg for several days or weeks, depending on the climate and
storage conditions.

• Packaging is required to prevent damage to the eggshells during transport to

the markets.
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 Product Labeling

Labeling is a subset of packaging and also it is part of a product that carries

verbal information about the product of a seller.

The essence of the label is expository by nature because it expresses some

features of the product such as ingredients, weight, measure, size, warning,
and performance, and sometimes it also includes advertising messages.

The label may be a simple teamed to the product or an elaborately designed

graphic that is part of the package.

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 Functions of label

 It identifies the product or brand

 It might grade the product
 It might describe the product, who made it, where it was
made when it was made, what it contains, how it is to be
used, and how to use it safely.
 It might promote the product through its attractive
graphics.

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