Vertical Market Focus: Agriculture

“Delivering pure, all-natural, organic seed products to grow healthier communities.” –Mission statement of Ardel Agriculture*

Case Study

Ardel Agriculture was a longtime staple in their home state of Kansas, and was looking to mass distribute their seed products to farmers across the US. Breaking into a crowded market was no easy feat. To help increase awareness of their brand, the company incorporated promotional products in their marketing efforts.

Planting the Seeds for Brand Awareness

Since pens were used daily by their distributors to write orders and sign-off on deliveries, Ardel Agriculture stocked up on branded pens to provide to their distributor companies and delivery personnel.

*Distributor Tip. Writing instruments are the most-recalled promotional items: 54% of respondents recall owning them.¹

Choosing a pen that communicated their brand was important to Ardel’s marketing team. The company opted for a pen that had clear trim accents and was available in an assortment of custom barrel colors—from stark white to various shades of green—to communicate the natural, organic elements of their brand.

Facts on Color Theory: The Positive Effects of Seeing Green

Green is the color of nature and it is often referred to as a restful color for the human eye, calming the viewer emotionally. The color green has been used to communicate these positive attributes: calmness, growth, fertility, freshness, harmony, healing, hope, money, peace, and stability.

Making the Most of a Message

In addition to their logo, Ardel Agriculture was able to print additional text on the barrel of the pen because it offered a wraparound imprint, for 360 degrees of brand exposure. The company’s URL, 1-800 telephone number, and social media hashtags were some of the imprints Ardel featured on its branded pens. Each imprint helped support their marketing efforts.

• Imprints with a website URL—drove website traffic, where users could view all ag products offered by Ardel
• Imprints with a #hashtag—helped build their #ardelgrown social media campaign, inviting customers to post and share grower tips
• Imprints with the company’s corporate office phone number—gave anyone who came in contact with an Ardel pen a way to speak with a representative

National Ag Events

In March, the Agriculture Council of America hosts National Ag Day. According to their website, Ag Day is a day to recognize and celebrate the abundance provided by agriculture, bringing together producers, agricultural associations, corporations, universities, government agencies and countless others, in recognizing the contributions of agriculture.²

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^{*Case study based on an actual marketing event. Ardel Agriculture is a fictitious name.}

^{References: 1. ASI Impressions Survey, 2008. 2. National Ag Day website http://www.agday.org.}