Digital Strategy
Determining a strategy for a global leader of irrigation technology meant having meaningful conversations with dealers and farmers.
The Problem
Since the ’60’s, Netafim have been a pioneer and brand leader within the automated irrigation category.
In recent years, with the rapid progress of low cost technology, the market dynamics have changed. Lower prices and more competitors have entered the category, threatening market share. The big question for the company emerged – what should Netafim do to compete?
The Solution
Over a 4 month period, I managed a team of researchers in 7 countries. We used telephone interviewing with business customers and end users. This resulted in 238 interviews, averaging 30 minutes each, in 7 different languages, creating over 7,000 minutes of conversation.
The Outcome
Our analysis highlighted how businesses and end-users expected real prices of automated irrigation to fall in the future. To command a price premium and protect the brand positioning, Netafim needed to offer new innovations to differentiate itself.
Additionally, the communications needed to improve. Surprisingly, we found that small farmers across the world are communicating via free messaging apps such as ‘WhatsApp’ – and the expectations were that as a pioneer, Netafim would use these channels to reach them too.
The results were extremely insightful compared to the work we had done before – we were able to visualise the core issues our business faced in each country as well as determine an overall picture for EMEA. The research has given Netafim a new impetus and vision for the way forward and I have no hesitation in recommending Steve to other businesses who need research management offering strategic insights and guidance.