Digital Strategy
Determining a strategy for a global leader of irrigation technology meant having meaningful conversations with dealers and farmers.
The Problem
Netafim are a pioneer and brand leader within the automated irrigation category. They revolutionised the irrigation category in the 60’s and have become synonymous with technical advancement ever since.
In recent years, with the rapid progress of low cost technology, Netafim have seen the market dynamics change. 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
Clicked researchers carried out strategic research within 7 countries, using semi-structured telephone interviewing with business customers and end users. This resulted in 238 interviews, averaging 30 minutes each, in 7 different languages resulting in over 7,000 minutes of conversation.
The Outcome
The 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.