Opinion: Marketing Lessons From A Beet Farmer
May 4, 2012 
Dwight Schrute is a lot like many of you. He has a full-time day job working in sales. At night and on the weekends, he has another “full-time” job running a small growing and agritourism operation catering mostly to local clientele. Like many of you, Dwight is constantly looking for ways to attract new customers, and he knows it starts by making his farm a popular destination that will attract repeat visitors.
There is one major difference between Dwight and the rest of you, however: He’s not a real person. Those of you who are fans of NBC’s popular sitcom “The Office” or simply follow pop culture may recognize Dwight as the assistant (to the) regional manager of a struggling Midwestern paper company. You may also know Dwight as owner and proprietor of Schrute Farms, a beet farm and bed-and-breakfast that provides everything from table making to education about irrigation.
What you might not know is that while Dwight Schrute is a fictional character, he can provide real insights into how to successfully build an agritourism destination.
Marketing Is King
Like most small farms, marketing is key to the success of Schrute Farms. Here are just some of the steps Dwight has taken to attract new customers.
• Promoting via online word of mouth. Believe it or not, the fictional Schrute Farms has an actual listing on TripAdvisor, a website that provides customer feedback on a variety of tourist attractions across the country. In fact, nearly 900 people have posted comments on the farm’s offerings, whether it’s their beet wine or bedtime stories read to children (and cousin Mose). As one “reviewer” claimed, it’s “heaven on earth for root vegetable lovers.”
Just as good word of mouth can do wonders for a farm, poor word of mouth can deter potential visitors, as noted by Dwight: “A couple of bad reviews, you may as well close up shop. That’s what took down the Stalk Inn; one of the cutest little asparagus farms you’ll ever see.”
It should come as no surprise that Schrute Farms also has its own Facebook page, as well as a page on Foursquare.
• Diversity in agri-tainment. In early episodes of “The Office,” Schrute Farms started out as simply a beet farm that grew product for local customers. However, ever the entrepreneur, Dwight saw the importance of making customers want to visit not just for the product, but for the farm experience. Schrute Farms soon expanded into a bed and breakfast with three themed rooms as well as arts and crafts activities. A couple years later, it became host to wedding receptions, garden parties, and historical programs.
You may not be able to take on all of these ventures, but surely there is an untapped marketing opportunity for you to consider.
Shared Situations
It goes beyond marketing at Schrute Farms. In fact, Dwight Schrute deals with many of the same issues as you.
A few years back, the farm went completely wireless. Or rather, it seems someone stole all the wiring on the farm (Is copper theft a problem for you? Turn to pg. 38). Just recently, they began using an iMac for all recordkeeping. It’s all about keeping up with new technology.
In recent years, Schrute Farms has also become more diversified in its crop offerings. Thanks to customer demand, not only is it probably the only grower making beet wine, but now the farm also grows turnips and other root vegetables. But not celery; as Dwight says, “Those who can’t farm, farm celery.” (Thankfully, this column is not appearing in our sister publication, American Vegetable Grower, although perhaps there is an equivalent fruit crop?)
Finally, Dwight must deal with the issues of running a family business. The farm has been passed down through several generations of the Schrute family, which means having a farm transition plan is important. Plus, finding reliable labor is a challenge. Sure, you may not be advertising for positions calling for human scarecrows, but someone has to be hired to prepare fields and harvest the crop.
The bottom line: Schrute Farms may not be a real place (we think), but there are no doubt lessons you can learn.
One more note on the future of Schrute Farms: With several cast members reportedly departing from “The Office” in the next year, there has been talk of NBC launching a spinoff series focused on Schrute Farms. We can only hope that such a program might be able to provide weekly lessons in growing and marketing, and perhaps even educate the public on issues related to agriculture. (Surely there are some hidden truths to be discovered.) There’s not a lot of television programming devoted to growing fruits and vegetables. Maybe this is a start. Stay tuned.
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