Trade Advertising

For the past year, our Fresh Focus column has been concentrating on the technical aspects of your business including information on food safety, fresh-cut produce developments, trends in produce, etc. Now, we are expanding the scope to include your business marketing efforts. The first aspect we will discuss is trade advertising.

Having spent much of my career selling advertising in consumer and trade publications, I can tell you a good working relationship with the trade press can only help your business grow.

In the produce industry, there are many choices of where to place your advertising. The monthly publications are vastly different from the weeklies and you need to understand how each serves its own market.

Creating an Annual Plan

For more than 20 years, I sold advertising for the two national weekly trade publications (not at the same time). Each serves the industry in different ways. Their audiences have some overlap, but the editorial focus of each is different. It is up to you, your marketing director or your marketing consultant to decide how you are going to use the trade publications to serve your needs best.

Recently, I worked on an annual plan for trade advertising for a client. We spread the dollars around so that each publication was included. The plan was ambitious, and significant modifications were made due to changes in marketing strategies. Nevertheless, this client found out more about the trade publications and more about his past expenditures by looking at the spreadsheet I created.

Many times, a salesperson wants to sell you into a particular issue for various reasons. Having an annual plan – on a spreadsheet – really shows you where you are duplicating effort and where you may need to revise your plans.

How to Get Noticed

A well-thought-out advertising plan, with creative design and compelling copy, will get you noticed. If you run the same ad year after year, nobody notices it. Change your ad copy, but keep a “look” or a “message” throughout all your ads so people know it is your company they’re reading about. Trade publications do a good job designing ads. If you have an idea, let them run with it. Or let a professional help you with your advertising design projects.

One of the things I really enjoy is helping my clients understand how advertising works. Designing and creating ads and campaigns that work are some of the most satisfying projects I’ve been involved with. Trade advertising should be an essential part of your overall marketing and sales plans. Used effectively, it can help your image and grow your brand.

Marty Nicholson is a partner with Edith Garrett & Associates, a consulting firm that helps the produce industry with third-party food safety audit preparation, supplier certification, fresh-cut product development, market research, marketing and advertising strategies, Web site design and copywriting. For more information, call (616) 784-2728 or visit www.edithgarrett.com.


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