Abstract.China is a large agricultural country. Agricultural production occupies an important position in the development of national economy. Chinese people who suffering from limit of farmland, in modern farming activities, always attempt to increase output per unit and that is just merely because the important step that improves beneficial result. Therefore, pesticides play an important role to ensure that production maximum. However, there are still many problems in Chinese pesticide market. This paper firstly shows the pesticide market current situation, based on this, combining with the pesticide company business philosophy, pesticide enterprise brand awareness and doing comprehensive analysis. Make sure that the pesticide marketing problems were analyzed, and put forward our own views.
Key words: Chinese Farming Pesticide Enterprises; Marketing; Diagnosis
1.Introduction
At present, Chinese pesticide market situation is not optimistic, mainly has the following problems: (1) China has many pesticide manufacturers. Most of them are small scale and not the standard factories; (2) firms have no ability to develop or developing new varieties of products. They engaged in product imitation year by year; (3) the product structure is unreasonable. Most of the products are highly toxic products; (4) pesticide products distribution channel is very confused. The government banned fake pesticide but have merely little effect; (5) last but not least, as the pesticide consumers, Chinese farmers are mostly with features of low culture level, poor technique, and low judgment abilities.
With the development of Chinese economy, the Chinese government for pesticide policy is constantly changing, which is conducive to its development direction. In recent years, the government is to protect the pesticide that practice of pesticide imitation restricted since China has revised Patent law. China began to provide financial support for new pesticide research and development, with the “national pesticide center" (North Central) and the "South pesticide discovery center" (South Central) build, accelerate the pace of Chinese pesticide research and development, in order to have independent intellectual property rights of the pesticide breed, move toward the world. However, at present China has no any marketing comprehensive analysis, resulting in vicious competition in the market in recent years, it is often seen. So that comes this paper.
2.Customer purchasing characteristics
The characteristics of farmers’ purchasing behavior are manifested in the following aspects:
1.1 Price priority. Farmer income level is generally low, which makes them will tend to choose the lower prices of agricultural products. In addition, most agricultural products such as fertilizers, pesticides are essentials for farmer consumption, the basic function of the products are almost the same. But farmers about the differences in lack of understanding, that price have become the prime consideration.
1.2 Learning and imitating. Most farmers and consumers do not have enough knowledge of agricultural science and technology, for specific crops and soils, temperature and other agricultural knowledge is limited. Therefore, when they are about to selecting of agricultural products they mostly likely consider a large extent reference from such "farming hotshot" or “scientific farming model" experiences or opinions, choosing their used agricultural products.
1.3 Easy to accept the referral. On the other hand, by the way, the circulation of agricultural products, farmers often don"t know much about the overall situation. Like product function change and crop adaptability, farmers have limited knowledge, lack of brand awareness. Thus, in the purchase process, they often accord to the dealer introduction to decide the choice of agricultural products. Investigation shows that in the agricultural product specific purchase, ninety percent farmers buy pesticide considering the sales staff’s promotion.
3.Pesticide enterprise marketing concept
Nowadays, enterprises are using the traditional way of marketing to pesticide product sales. Within the pesticide product marketing process, the majority of pesticide enterprises put their view on enterprise existing products. The aim of marketing is to complete the production plan and meet the own profit targets. Business strategy is just like “what I am selling to customers is what I produced”. Companies are often ignored the pesticide market changes and farmers" demand for pesticides changes.
On the current pesticide market, as we see, the oversupply situation of the market supply and demand and messy complex production and marketing enterprises coexist will inevitably lead to the "price war" rampage. Pesticide enterprise marketing concept still cannot avoid" price war" cookie cutter, moreover, lacking on brand consciousness, lax on channel control, also makes them as vicious spiral year and year again. So confidence of pesticide enterprise should be the lack of marketing concept. “No matter what the others, just do my own" should be the correct idea of pesticide enterprises.
Pesticide market competition is intense; farmers" demand for pesticides is diverse. Pesticide enterprises should take marketing viewpoint in the change of market demand, with customers through two-way communication; understand the market demand, to meet the needs of the farmers market and provide diversified products and services; by improving the dealers and farmers satisfaction, to create brand image.
4. Branding
Branding refers that enterprise integrated internal and external resources, to establish their own brand products, making products and services different from the competitors, making the unique brand characteristics in the fierce market competition.
Pesticide enterprises should flexibly, organically integrate and use variety forms of marketing, such as advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, sales with prizes, on-site promotions, all kinds of exhibitions and public relations. With the help of variety media and communication channels, enterprises could show their unique and holistic brand characteristics spreading to as many consumers as possible. Targeted, adapted and continuously communicating with farmers, they could provide farmers with prominent interest points, let the farmers had the greatest and most effectively influence, in order to achieve continuous, unity, coordination, clear marketing communication effects. Specifically in the following three points:
First of all, in the process of quality management, firms should not only pay attention to the intrinsic quality of products, while ignoring the packaging of the product quality and service quality. It is because that the intrinsic quality of products in general is not very different, their products through transfer of brand information is more relying on the packaging quality and service quality when the product coessential change rate is very high. Rough packaging and exquisite packaging makes a big difference message for consumers. Therefore, key to deliver consumer brand characteristic of the product itself is that providing consumers meeting their requirements and the unique brand service when the intrinsic quality of products and packaging quality about the same.
Secondly, enterprises should do innovation in the traditional marketing idea of pesticide product sales. Customer communication is the key. If the communication with the user is one-way, firms cannot collect sufficient market information, also cannot undertake to the market accurate segmentation, and even cannot provide diversified products and services for segment markets in time.
Thirdly, firms should diversify spread brand information. Pesticide enterprises deliver products and services information mainly through the marketing staff, product orders and related meetings. A lot of information can only be transmitted to the dealer, and then transmitted to farmers through a dealer. So some information in the dissemination to the farmers there may be delayed or distortion. Because the farmer lives dispersive, it is difficult to transfer to many farmers. Therefore, firms must integrate various media, promotion and propagation path, and comprehensive utilization of them, in order to transfer or spread the brand information from many angles, multi-level, and multi-direction to more farmers.
5.Marketing channel integration
The first is the integration of dealers and retail terminal. Because the pesticide end users living scattered, pesticide production enterprises cannot sell products to farmers directly. They usually meet the help through distributors and retail terminal. In addition, the farmer who have new requirement of pesticide products also must through distributors and retail terminal feedback to the enterprise. Distributors and retail terminal is the bridge connecting pesticide production enterprises and pesticide users. On one hand enterprises’ products through distributors or retail terminal to the farmer, On the other hand, distributors or retail terminal due to frequent contact with farmers, farmers on the existing pesticide products and services as well as the views of farmers" demand for pesticides changes, they can promptly understand and give feedback to the pesticide production enterprises. This shows the dealer or pesticide retail terminal is the important external resources.
However, pesticide enterprises in pesticide product existing marketing process focus on the product sales. Communication with the dealer is one-way, lacking two-way communication. Even if occasionally two-way communication, they just listen to users of existing products and services views. So firms cannot understand the change of pesticide market demand information, nor on the market for accurate, timely subdivision, also cannot provide timely meet the requirements of the product segment market. Therefore, enterprises in the marketing process should use in two ways, namely, pushing and pulling. Pushing is refers to the enterprise through distributors or retailers to introduce their products and services to customers, while Pulling is refers to the enterprise product and service information spread to the user through various channels. Motivate users to buy products and services enthusiasm, and promote the dealers sale of products and services enthusiasm.
Secondly, the pesticide promotion channels should also be integrated. Pesticide production enterprises have to pass the information of provided products and services to farmers directly, not only through introductions from distributors or retail terminal, but also through all kinds of media information, as well as The relevant government departments such as the Department of plant protection, technical supervision departments, pesticide management department in the relevant situation information. Enterprises in the actual operating process will use a combination of all of the above information dissemination pathways of pesticides in enterprises, in order to achieve the best effect of communication.
6.Conclusion
Nowadays, Chinese pesticide market meets a serious problem. Supply exceeds demand, shoddy products and non-standard products flooding, market price system chaos, production enterprises profit is low and too dependent on dealers, small pesticide enterprise amount is overmuch and operating risk is too high. In such a market, pesticide enterprise is facing big challenge. In order to solve these problems, it should be "two tactics to catch, two tactics hard":
The first tactic, the government should strengthen pesticide regulations of law enforcement and promote corresponding legislation, adopt reasonable policies to promote agriculture to intensive development and reasonable allocation of resources and agricultural scale management, and plant protection technology promotion.
Second, enterprises should make use of its own core competitiveness, developing unique management, formed a unique competitive advantage and scale advantages, around the needs of farmers establish reasonable flattening sales channels and efficient technical service and technical support system, increase capital accumulation capacity and accelerates horizontal and vertical integration between pesticide enterprises, through the provision of value-added services to obtain higher returns. Finally, the enterprise should pay attention to brand construction to firm and product, cultivate customer loyalty, specification for channel construction and channel behavior, makes competition from price competition to quality or brand or service competition.
7.Reference
[1]Han Yongqi. Several Transformations in Pesticide Marketing [J]. China Chemical Reporter2009,No.30,Vol.20
[2]Donald C Cole;Fadya Orozco T. An agriculture and health inter-sectorial research process to reduce hazardous pesticide health impacts among smallholder farmers in the Andes [J]. BMC International Health and Human Rights，2011,Vol.11
[3]Organic food body will use marketing to grow sales [J]. Marketing Week, 2010.Vol.33