Contest: Tell Us Your Boldest Marketing Move
August 6, 2012 
If you’ve been on the Web anytime in the last couple of months, or watched any daytime television, you’ve no doubt seen the latest YouTube video to go “viral” and take the nation by storm. “I’m Farming And I Grow It” is a new twist on a currently popular song, and it was created by three Kansas wheat farmers. These three young farmers have found a way to connect the farming lifestyle to a new audience, and educate them on why they love what they do. As an added bonus, you can tell they had fun doing it. Not only that, they were willing and able to take a risk and do something innovative and different.
Taking A Chance Can Pay Off
With thousands of new videos posted every day on YouTube, it takes something truly unique to stand out. The same holds true in fruit growing, especially in an area like Washington state. The growers who have made a name for themselves are those who take risks and do something innovative, especially if it benefits not just their operation, but the entire industry.
Take this year’s Apple Grower of the Year, Jeff Leonardini, for example. A few years ago, Leonardini, the manager of Washington Fruit and Produce Co. in Yakima, consulted with the company’s owners and made the decision to shift to an advanced integrated pest management program. This meant using newer, softer chemistries, committing to mating disruption across the farm’s many acres of apples, pears, and cherries, and testing out a new Web-based insect and disease monitoring and management system developed by Washington State University.
What was the result? The company is now considered a model for how to build a pest management program that can be sustainable in the long term.
Washington Fruit and Produce is one of the nation’s largest fruit growers. But you don’t have to be a farm this size to do something the rest of the industry can follow. In addition, the risk you choose to take does not have to involve a major business decision. It can be something fun, something that is designed to attract the attention not just of your fellow growers, but consumers as well. What am I referring to? Keep reading!
Wanted: Your Craziest Ideas
I’ve attended several fruit and vegetable conferences, and many of the most popular and audience-engaging sessions that take place at these meetings are the ones where growers involved in direct marketing can share their experiences about off-the-wall ideas that have turned out to be very successful — as well as others that have not.
With that in mind, the editors of American/Western Fruit Grower are launching a new contest. We want you to tell us the craziest, wackiest, and boldest marketing or promotional ideas you’ve attempted to attract more customers. They don’t all have to be at the level of “I’m Farming And I Grow It.” But surely many of you have tried something different that may have seemed odd at first, only to have the risk pay off.
Some of these efforts may have been digital, perhaps a promotional video, a television or radio commercial, or a Facebook contest. Maybe you decided to launch a unique new attraction at your farm, or come up with a new culinary idea. It could even be something as simple as a coupon, or a farm sign, or a giveaway.
Whatever it was, tell us all about it. Where did the idea come from, and how did you pull it off? Was it successful? If so, did you get more new and returning customers out of it? If it didn’t work, why not? More importantly, what did you learn from it?
You can email me your ideas at [email protected], or if you prefer snail mail, send your ideas to Brian Sparks, American/Western Fruit Grower, 37733 Euclid Ave., Willoughby, OH 44094. If it was a digital activity, send a link if you have one. If it was an on-farm venture, perhaps you can send along a photo or two.
Here’s the best part: we will share some of the best ideas in the next issue of American/Western Fruit Grower, as well as on GrowingProduce.com. All we ask is that you’re willing to share a risk you took with a larger audience. You’re sure to help other growers learn new ideas, and you might pick up a few interesting tips yourself.
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