Advertising

[jwcinpk]

Just wondering what you folks thought about advertising and tractors.
Do you think it plays a significant role in sales? Do you think it is important for a manufacturer to make available apparel with their logo on it?

I wonder how many people out there bought a Deere or other major brand just because of the perks involved with ownership. You can buy virtually anything with the Deere logo on it. How much would it help non major brands to put apparel out there? If you own a non major brand would you buy it?

What do you think about non traditional advertising? e.g. blogs, web sites, etc.

Does it help a manufacturer when they are mentioned in a song? e.g. She thinks my tractor's sexy, Deere; International Harvester (new single by Craig Morgan)

I'm interested in what you think!

 

[RoyJackson]

I don't pay much attention to advertising...and I don't buy "boutique" apparel for a Deere or any other product. I do have a couple Deere things (couple hats and tee shirts) my wife got at a Good Will store.
I figure if I'm going to advertise a product, the seller should give the stuff away.

 

[SnowRidge]

The only advertising I need or want is a good, informative web site. That and a free hat or two when I actually buy something.

 

[rooftrussman]

If it doesn't pay off, they wouldn't do it. Not sure what that says about the buying public: tractors or anything else.

 

[BTDT]

He who has a thing to sell, and goes and whispers in a well,
is not as apt to get the dollars, as he who climbs a tree and hollers.

I think the product should sell itself. If it's good, word will get around. You can have a big marketing campaign to build up a product, but if it's junk when it get's to market, you basically shoot yourself in the foot.

 

[billbill1]

The DVR is a great invention, I rarely see and advertising anymore!! I don't pay attention to ads, John Deere is sold more on reputation than advertising IMHO. But it must pay to advertise or they wouldn't watse the time or the huge bucks doing it.

 

[Soundguy]

There's good, bag, and ugly.

Good: I like it when companies have some 'branded' items to go along with their products. I like gloves, caps, jackets, and drinking mugs.. etc.. that sort of thing...

Bad: Most companies DON'T have good marketing in this respect... I'd love to have some more Blue items, past the paltry offerings at the website store..

Ugly: Some people go to far.. 'Green' is the 'street ho' of marketing. You can get just about any consumer item with a green background with a loping woodland creature on it. You know.. coffee mugs and some wearing apparrel is nice.. maybee even some shades.. drink cozy.. still ok.. salt / pepper shakers.. diner ware sets.. lamp shades. christams wreaths and tree toppers.. starting to get a little far out here.. dust collectors.. etc.. etc..

If some of the companies could find a happy medium somewhere inbetween None, and everything (green)... it would be great.

As far as tractor advertising? I can't say that I've ever ran down and looked at a tractor after seeing one in a magazine.. unless it was a 'for sale' mag and i saw a used one in the heavy equipment trader and visited the dealers lot. i have however showed up to a dealer intending to buy a new SCUT, and ended up leaving with a uset CUT though..

No amount of (green) keychains, sweat bands, or dust collecting wall hangers is going to influence me to buy one of their tractors. I'm convinced that the tinting of their paint is made from ground up money from their customers pockets... At least in my area.. if you have money to burn, you buy green or perhaps orange.. if the salesmaen at the green dealers are too busy to help you.. or, if you actually work for a living and need a more down to earth priced tractor you buy a red or blue one... those are just my opinions.. etc..

( notice that nowhere in this message have I said anything negative about John Deer or it's tractors. .. that's right.. it is purely an AMAZING coincidence that they happen to be 'that' color.. )

Soundguy

Just wondering what you folks thought about advertising and tractors.
Do you think it plays a significant role in sales? Do you think it is important for a manufacturer to make available apparel with their logo on it?

I wonder how many people out there bought a Deere or other major brand just because of the perks involved with ownership. You can buy virtually anything with the Deere logo on it. How much would it help non major brands to put apparel out there? If you own a non major brand would you buy it?

What do you think about non traditional advertising? e.g. blogs, web sites, etc.

Does it help a manufacturer when they are mentioned in a song? e.g. She thinks my tractor's sexy, Deere; International Harvester (new single by Craig Morgan)

I'm interested in what you think!

 

[SnowRidge]

Ugly: Some people go to far.. 'Green' is the 'street ho' of marketing. You can get just about any consumer item with a green background with a loping woodland creature on it. You know.. coffee mugs and some wearing apparrel is nice.. maybee even some shades.. drink cozy.. still ok.. salt / pepper shakers.. diner ware sets.. lamp shades. christams wreaths and tree toppers.. starting to get a little far out here.. dust collectors.. etc.. etc..

You left out rifles, gun safes, and model trains.

 

[putt_putt_green]

( notice that nowhere in this message have I said anything negative about John Deer or it's tractors. .. that's right.. it is purely an AMAZING coincidence that they happen to be 'that' color.. )

And I thought you were talking Montana tractors .


Having several nephews growing up on farm (ages 3 - 13 now), I can tell you that they love getting "Green" for presents and it is a big deal to them. They see Daddy riding the big tractors and want there own JD stuff. I'm sure this will influence them as adults. As far as the other 99% of the North American population, who knows.

I think a lot of advertising is aimed at youngsters, to influence them later in life as adults. Children are highly influenced by advertising.

 

[Soundguy]

As an adult.. it's an annoyance. All my family and friends know I like tractors.. and since 'green' is the only one 'putting out'.. I get tons of green branded .. er.. 'stuff' for every occasion. I have lunch boxes and ever darn assorted size of tin box, cookie tins, cookie jars.. gloves, toe warmers set covers, pads, socks. caps, servig dishes.. silverware.. etc... I got it all in a big box in my computer room. one day it will hit critical mass and there will be a big explosion in florida with green fallout for years to come.

Instead of getting a 10$ green led light up pocket knife cozy.. it'd be easier if the gift giver just sent the 9$.95 cent marketing fee to the green and co head ofice, sent the 1 cent to the poor overseas slave laborer who made the thing, and just give me the 4 cents and say.. happy birthday!

Soundguy

Soundguy

 

[jimg]

I think it does sell their equipment...I know a couple shows on RFD TV that have a 'tractor corner' which features JD only and occasionally JD hosts an hour call in show. It gives useful infos that their market would want to know. This is a sort of 'good will' advertising. They show how to use their equipment which likely lead to a sale. Lots of companies go this route...its a sort of soft sale showing the consumer how and why to use their product.

 

[jwcinpk]

As an adult.. it's an annoyance. All my family and friends know I like tractors.. and since 'green' is the only one 'putting out'.. I get tons of green branded .. er.. 'stuff' for every occasion. I have lunch boxes and ever darn assorted size of tin box, cookie tins, cookie jars.. gloves, toe warmers set covers, pads, socks. caps, servig dishes.. silverware.. etc... I got it all in a big box in my computer room. one day it will hit critical mass and there will be a big explosion in florida with green fallout for years to come.

Instead of getting a 10$ green led light up pocket knife cozy.. it'd be easier if the gift giver just sent the 9$.95 cent marketing fee to the green and co head ofice, sent the 1 cent to the poor overseas slave laborer who made the thing, and just give me the 4 cents and say.. happy birthday!

Soundguy

Soundguy

Don't hold anything back! I can't say that I disagree with any of this, but it does seem that some of the stuff Deere in particular is doing is selling lots of tractors.
It is nice to be able to support your brand though. I happen to have a Mahindra and there is very little you can buy with their logo on it.

 

[3RRL]

There's no doubt that advertising helps sell and item ... tractor or whatever. How many times have you seen an advertisement and said to yourself, gee, I gotta get one of those. Sometimes you're not even thinking about it and an advertisement rings the bell. If not for anything else, it's a reminder.

I don't know if non major brands put out apparel or other goodies associated with their tractors would help or not, but it sure wouldn't hurt their sales. Look what it's done for sports equipment especially in tennis and golf, rifles, cars and bikes like Corvettes and you could furnish a whole house with what's available from Harley Davidson. Look at Nike and the bucks they spend on endorsements and advertisements. Look what it's done for them. John Deere got on the bandwagon and has taken advantage of it in the tractor world. Cat has stuff available too.

 

[BTDT]

I think of advertising as passive (or used to). Ads in magazines, billboards, tv commercials. If I was interested, it was then up to me to make contact and check out the product. Additional benefit of this is free tv, lower cost magazines, nominal postage for letters/mail (partially due to so much junkmail, or so I've heard). Where I think it gets out of hand, an builds resentment, is telemarketers, spam, popup ads, etc. I don't know how much it costs to run TBN, but the advertising is probably what keeps it free for us to continue to be able to use it. I'm sure all the costs of running ads adds to the cost of the product they are trying to sell, but I think a lot of that is wasted. Think about some of the superbowl ads, they are funny, but some of them I can't even remember, and couldn't tell you what they were advertising right after they run them.

 

[woodlandfarms]

For a living, I produce TV Commercials. Generally larger national or international spots. I also produce other things, Features and Special Venue work. I find it interesting to reconnect with the people my work effects the most.

First, I own a Tivo. a few of them... i skip almost all commercials. I skip them not because I care one way or another about the product, but because I find the ad's far too safe and far to boring. I stop for interesting Macintosh Ads, or funny beer ads. But most ads treat the viewer as a meat puppet.

I have never produced Tractor ads, just a lot of automotive. It is very interesting to apply what I know to a vertical market like tractor sales.

First, John Deere. It is a stroke of brilliance that this company sells its name the way it does. Deere has a long history in our culture, and has drawn the interest of a lot of people. But sometime in the 90's kids started showing up on the streets of metropolises and not on farms in John Deere shirts and hats, and it became very sheik to wear or own those items. So we should applaud Deere for being so smart as to se this opportunity and add another revenue stream to their company, and hopefully allow them to stay afloat in the impending economic downturn.

I see Mahindra is pushing their product with commercials and print. I don't feel the message they deliver is all that strong, but it is good they are getting out there. I fear a number of companies have missed the boat on advertising. While expensive, it is a great way to get their name out. The past few years we have seen a huge upturn in city boys becoming gentleman farmers. These other companies (Red, blue yellow, pink) did not really put their name out. With the economy appearing to falter, the market for tractors is going to dry up quickly, and this big boom that many of these companies have enjoyed is going to sour. Would having strengthened their names in the upturn help with the impending downturn, you bet.

The question is does advertising influence peoples decisions; of course. And advertisers are good at getting their message out in many inocuous ways. I would venture that a lot more people bought Deere because of the name and no so much because of the product. Like buying a BMW, Porsche, or Mercedes, they could get the same thing for a lot less elsewhere but were sold on having the name.

edit - I re read this last paragraph and I want to clarify in no way am I bashing green. It is an outstanding tractor and an outstanding value.

Will that many people fess up to on on TBN? I doubt it. I doubt those people frequent this kind of site.

Anyway.. My 2 cents and just an opinion. Glad to see it a topic of discussion.

Carl

 

[Farmwithjunk]

What more could a company hope for? Advertising that the target group pays to receive!

Deere has a policy of going after "imposters" who use their logo for gain. They have even been known to send out lawyers to cruise farm toy shows looking for custom made toys with Deere's name on them. They have (at last word) a $1000 application fee for licensing approval, non-refundable if you should be denied. Then, if your product IS approved, Deere gets their cut as you sell it. All the competing brands would give their eye teeth for the attention a Deere logo draws. The marketing of their exclusive brand reminds me of 2 other "entities" in their respective fields. Univ. of Notre Dame and Dale Earnhardt (sr). They wrote their own rules on selling their name, and left everyone else in the dust.

 

[MikePA]

If a company, or a person, doesn't protect their trademark, they can lose it and it becomes public domain. Hence the Deere policy. In addition to not wanting to lose their trademark, I imagine Deere wants to ensure the products meet their standards for quality.

Aspirin, cellophane, and escalator all started out as names for specific products.

 

[art]

Back in the eighties I used to read a lot of ad magizines as well as books on it, even then the amount they spent made the rest look like they spent chump change. It does pay, JD bought a market with it, it was what they wanted to do and they accomplished it!

 

[Soundguy]

The question is does advertising influence peoples decisions; of course.

Yes it does. After I've been drowned in green logos' with a woodland creature running across it.. I'll probably NEVER buy one of those overpriced tractors.

Not because i think they are inferior in any way. ( quite the opposite... I believe they are a good solid tractor with LOTS of financial backing and customer support available.. I'd match them with anything on the market.. solely based on that criteria ).

IMHO.. they are overpriced, per unit, based on what they offer.. As was said.. you can buy a bmw.. or a less expensive car and both will get you from A to B.

( I don't need any chrome to mow my field ).

Soundguy

 

[SnowRidge]

I agree with Soundguy. Advertising can be overdone to a point that it turns customers away from the product. It can be from simple excess, obvious outright lies, distasteful themes, or other obnoxious practices. I'll cite one example.

My wife and I enjoy the Discovery Science Channel programs How It's Made and How Do They Do It. Unfortunately, Discovery Science chooses to run frequent promos (ads) for their own programs right on top of the shows as we are watching.

Recently they were promoing a new show on exploring Mars. They ran the promo during virtually every commercial break, then when the show resumed, they ran another promo right on top of the program we were watching. They did this for weeks, using the same promos until we were sick of it.

When the big day arrived for the Mars show, we didn't even bother. They literally drove us away from the program. Had they not run the promos on top of the programs we were viewing, we would probably have watched the Mars program.