FFA Marketing Plan
Workshop
Who are we?
Overview of Competition
 State Convention competition ONLY
 3 FFA participants per team
 Team Scored Event – professional marketing judges
 Written Plan:
 Must select a local product/service
 Three-year plan
 Should not exceed 8 single-sided, 8.5” x 11” pages
 Presentation:
 Prelim Round – 5 minute presentation
 Semifinal Round – 10 minute presentation
 Final Round – 12 minute presentation
Overview of Marketing Plan
- Market Analysis
- Industry Trends, Market Potential, Target Market, Customer Profile
- Competitive Analysis
- Identify Competitors, SWOT Analysis
- Business Proposition
- Strategy Statement, Key Planning Assumptions, Marketing Objectives
- Action Plan
- 4 P’s. Marketing & Promotional Tactics
- Financials
- Monitoring & Measuring
- Evaluating business performance thru metrics
MyMato:
 Dwarf cherry tomato plant that can be grown inside, all
year round. It can produce hundreds of tomatoes from
one plant.
Market Trends & Potentials
Market Potential
Target Market
Customer Profile
What is Market Research?
Why is it important?
Market Research
 Study of market conditions and trends to determine whether a
product has potential and the proper market for the product.
Answers questions like….
 Who should I market to?
 What competition is in the market?
 Industry trends that would influence my business/product success?
 How much should I charge?
 Where should I market the product?
 When should I launch the product? How should I communicate to my customers?
 What’s my market potential?
Market Research
 Two forms of Market Research:
 Primary
 You collect the research
 Secondary
 Someone else collected the information first
 What are some forms of each??
 Primary:
 focus groups, interviews, observations, surveys, etc
 Secondary:
 USDA, journals, periodicals, research papers, web
Market Trends
 What is going on in the market that would
constitute a need for this product?
 QUANTIFY your trends
 Explain RELEVANCE
MyMato: - What is happening (trending) in
the fresh produce industry today?
 Consumption of fresh market tomatoes has increased
 Healthier eating (vegetable intense diets)
 Preferring sweeter tasting tomatoes
 Food origin is a growing concern for consumers
Market: Who is it??
Target
Customer
Target
Market
Market
Potential
Market Potential
 Determines how big the market is in terms of:
 Dollar value
 Customer numbers
 Stage of development the market is currently in-
Immature? Mature?
Target Market
 WHO are you targeting?
 Segment or narrow your market
 Geographic, Demographic, Psychographic, Behavioral
 Are there any secondary targets?
 Perhaps key influencers
 Leads into Customer Profile
Customer Profile
 Who are they?
 Age
 Education
 Priorities/Values
 Where do they get their product information?
 Often helps to give your target customer an identity.
MyMato:
 Target Market – who would you target?
MyMato
 Customer Profile – who is the customer?
Competitor Analysis
Competitor Analysis
SWOT
Competitor Analysis
 To start:
 Identify your product’s benefits to the customer
 What is YOUR competitive advantage
 Research similar/competing products in the market
 Product
 Price
 % Market Share
 Strengths
 Weaknesses
MyMato:
SWOT Analysis
 Strengths- things the company/product does well
 Weaknesses- things the company/product doesn’t do well
 Opportunities- conditions in the external environment that favor
Internal
Strengths
Weaknesses
External
strengths
 Threats- conditions in the external environment that do not relate
to existing strengths or favor areas of current weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
MyMato:
Key Planning Assumptions
Marketing Goals
Business Strategy Statement
Key Planning Assumptions
 4-6 Business Assumptions about the marketplace and
customers
 Information should be taken from the research
conducted in the Market Analysis section
Examples from MyMato:
1. Northern Naturals holds exclusive rights to the patented indoor dwarf
cherry tomato plant, MyMato
2. The demand for nutritious, convenient, locally grown produce will
continue to grow.
3. Northern Naturals will have access to an adequate supply of seed and
production greenhouse space to satisfy the forecasted demand.
Marketing Goals/Objectives
 3-5 Business Metrics/Objectives should be set
 Sales (Units, $), Customers, Satisfaction, Profit Margin
 Need to be reasonable (within reach) and measurable
Examples from MyMato:
 By Year 3:
 Gross sales of $14 million
 65% brand awareness among our target market
 Capture 5% of the market in selected grocery stores in targeted area
Strategy Statement
1-Sentence Statement, says:
 Who we are
 What we do
 Who we do it for
Example from MyMato:
“MyMato will reward consumers with a desirable sweeter tasting cherry
tomato, grown on nothing more than a sunny window-sill, while keeping
health and convenience a top priority. My Life, My Health, MyMato.”
Action Plan
The plan to:
1. Make your customers aware of your product/service
2. Get your customers to buy your product/service
The 4 P’s of Marketing (Marketing Mix)
 Product Positioning
 Physical features or intangible aspects of the product
 Price
 Pricing Strategy, Sell Low/Premium Priced?
 Place
 Where?, Distribution Channels
 Promotion
 Action Plan: Marketing & Promotional Tactics, Sales Promotion
MyMato 4 P’s
Promotion
 Mass Selling
 Advertising- what you pay for
 Publicity (PR)- free
 Sales Promotion
 What you do in-store to get the customer to try it
 Contests, coupons, free samples
 Personal Selling
 Direct contact with potential customer
Example Promotional Tools
 Print Media
 Social Media
 Public Relations
 Trade Shows/Educational Seminars
 Internet Marketing
 Sales Force
 Product Launch
MyMato Promotions – Year 1
MyMato Promotions – Year 2
MyMato Promotions – Year 3
Financials
Why Financials are Important
 Shows economical feasibility
 Shows validity of marketing expenses
 Can we move forward?
 Cash Flow, Gross Margin, Profit
Monitoring and Measuring
 Contingency Plan
 Goals
 What happens if you exceed your goals?
 What happens if you don’t meet your goals?
Questions?
For more information & resources:
www.iowastatenama.wordpress.com
“FFA Resources”