ADVERTISING / MERCHANDIZING - Which?

[DOC HARRIS]

Recently I was engaged in an animated conversation involving several Ranchers, and the subject du jour was "Advertising", and whether one could afford to do it, considering the high costs involved. I posed the question "What is the difference between 'advertising' and 'merchandising'? After a rather heated (!!) discussion on the subject, we settled on one rather obvious fact: BOTH advertising AND merchandizing are critical and necessary for a breeder to be financially successful, regardless of whether he is in the seedstock phase, or cow-calf operation only, or backgrounding calves, or ANY part of the beef cattle business along the entire spectrum of the business in the selling of his production. And of course, the broad, dark black line in the FINAL analysis is PROFIT! If profit is illusory or non-existent, one may as well disperse the herd, and begin to try to sell vacuum cleaners!

Recognizing and accepting that premise as "set-in-stone", I did some research on these two words, and discovered the following definitive definitions:
The American Marketing Association has proclaimed that the definition of "Merchandizing" encompasses "--planning involved in marketing the right merchandise or service at the right place, at the right time, in the right quantities, and at the right price."

How to make Merchandizing "FUNCTION" optimally in the broader role of society is the obligation and responsibility of entrepreneurs (breeders and producers in the case of the Beef Cattle business's involved) using meticulous and conscientious "Marketing" protocols – which definition reads: "Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large." Nancy Costopulos, CMO of the American Marketing Association also added, "Marketing is no longer a function—it is an educational process."

Promotion is YOUR responsibility!

DOC HARRIS

I had two links to which I was going to refer, but they are out of reach for some reason. But the basic idea of the thread is for you to be 'creative' in your advertising/merchandizing endeavors. Check with ANY breed association to get some ideas for you to utilize for yourself.

 

[RD-Sam]

That's a great idea, I can sell vacuum cleaners until the beef market recovers. :cowboy:

 

[bigbull338]

well doc alot of people rely on word of mouth to sell cattle.an the fact that they have a well bred herd.an every1 knows their bloodlines.ive got a good friend that used to keep an ad in the breed mag.an he asked if i found him there.an i said no i found you in our local ag paper.an he said the local ag paper got him all his business.an dropped the ad in the breed mag when the ad expired.

 

[novatech]

You can raise the very best beef in the world. But if you do not know how to sell it for a better price for your efforts you are doing nothing but Pi--ing in the wind.
Me, I don't know the difference between marketing and merchandising but I do know that I sure had to talk them up a lot when I was getting started. After a while a good reputation helps but you got to get to that point. When you are up against Ranches that have been doing it for over a hundred years it can be a battle.