Over 20 deep on a typical Saturday and more than 50 deep on the 4th of July -- not counting the kids and friends tagging along -- shoppers line up to buy corn at the local farmers market. It goes on like this all morning, until the corn runs out or the market closes.

This corn business is fascinating. Who would wait in a line reminiscent of Soviet Russia or the launch of a new Apple product, when corn is available from many other vendors? Was this corn so much better? What if anything could I learn about marketing from the corn-selling champ?

Lines are an anathema to me. I typically abandon my shopping efforts when forced to wait. But in the interest of marketing, I stand in line and wait my turn to buy corn.

How is the corn-selling champ creating this sales extravaganze? Let's review his tactics using the traditional marketing P's: Product, People, Place Promotion, Price.

Product: Best of class I purchased corn from several other vendors to do a test taste with family and friends. All agreed. The corn-selling champ's product was incredibly sweet. The others, although eaten with no complaints in previous weeks, tasted bland in comparison.

The corn-selling champ represents G&S Farms of Brentwood, Calif. G&S is a family farm that specializes in corn. Their maniacal focus on corn leads them to hybridize and test hundreds of varieties to find the best. Ghiggeri and Stonebarger -- the G & S -- are also hailed as "geniuses at timing when to pick the corn."

The corn-selling champ only sells corn. And only one or two varieties of corn are available at any one time. By focusing, the corn-selling champ is able to claim the mantle of "specialist."

People (service): Corn Steward John Blasi represents G&S farms. Blasi is a retired chemistry teacher, who along with his son-in-law, Dave, runs the stand.

When shoppers reach their prize, they are forbidden to touch or even select their ears. A large sign requests, "Please don't tear down the corn." Blasi asks how many ears and then selects for the customer.

Blasi focuses on efficient service rather than self-service. It is part of his strategy to ensure the highest quality product. The customer is not a corn expert and may not select the best. If a customer tears down the husk to inspect the corn and then tosses the ear back, the product is ruined.

It is unnecessary for a real expert to pull back the husk. When Blasi selects the ears, he does a final quality check and rejects any that are too small or other defect. This focus on quality led to only one customer complaint last year.

Place (channel): Anchor location The corn-selling champ has an end row location making his stall more visible. When asked how he came by this coveted location, Blasi replied that "My line was blocking the other vendors, so they asked that the corn guy move."

Popularity leads to higher rankings whether in search results, anchoring a mall, customer recall or the farmers market.

Promotion: A long line speaks volumes No catchy name, just a small sign declaring "Brentwood corn."

But the long line was an even more effective advertisement. It's what got my attention. Most people assume that the most popular brand has good reason to be number one.

Price: No markdowns supported by superior inventory management Although he supplied a superior product, Blasi did not charge a premium. All vendors sold corn for the same price.

However, Blasi does not discount as many vendors do as noon approaches and their fruits and vegetables are still piled high. He has no patience for the bargain hunters sniffing around.

Dave is tasked with inventory management to ensure just the right amount is brought to the market. The goal is to sell out by closing. Dave tracks units sold by variety by week at different markets where they sell. The week prior was July 4th when they sold 100 boxes. The subsequent week they sold out after 76 boxes at 6 minutes until close. John teased his son-in-law about "messing up and losing sales."

Three Ways to Apply More Broadly to Green Marketing

The corn stand, despite its simplicity, is rich in business lessons. Inventory management, branding and customer relationship management are some of the sophisticated tactics used. Let's discuss three of these in more detail.

1. Create Quality that is Obvious

Most industries are mature or declining, since they no longer grow faster than the GDP or population. GDP first quarter 2011 growth compared to first quarter 2010 growth: U.S. grew 2.3 percent, Germany 5.2 percent India and China grew considerably faster at 7.8 percent and 9.7 percent respectively. How does your company stack up?

If your company operates in a mature or declining industry, there is hope.

G&S Farms and Blasi intuitively followed the strategy of the founder of modern management, Peter Drucker to make their product unique. Peter Drucker advised in his book "Management Challenges for the 21st Century" that a business in a commodity market "manage for steady improvement in quality and service to strengthen the company's position." 

 

Commodity + Quality = Differentiated product

 

Quality is one way to make your product greener. Quality requires less rework and returns. Quality products last longer increasing value for the customer. Quality provides the consumer with a more satisfying experience increasing use of the product.

Many companies claim quality. Each company should ask, "Is my quality as obvious as the differences among sweet corn is to a 5-year-old?"

Once you have a quality product, consider the entire supply chain to ensure that quality is sustained. The partnership with the manufacturer (G&S Farms) and the retailer (Blasi) ensures that distribution and sales reinforces the quality experience. And it reduces waste.

G&S and Blasi give attention to maintaining the just-picked quality. Special reusable carrying cases avoid bruising, ice keeps corn from over-heating, and a full canopy shades the product. This is a higher standard than Blasi's farmers market competitors.

2. Market Differently

Philip Kotler, known as the father of modern marketing, stated in his book "How to Create, Win and Dominate Markets" that "Once you define the attributes of your brand, you need to express them in every marketing activity."

But it is not necessary to express your brand like everyone else. Rather than talking up his product or providing samples, Blasi does it differently. With the customer watching, Blasi hand selects each piece of corn; visibly checking the corn and rejecting any that fail his high standards. He is demonstrating his care. One other benefit, it is also faster for Blasi to pick than the customer so he makes more sales.

This approach to help the customer make better selections can be implemented using personal shoppers, whether human or virtual. The right wine pairing, the best athletic shoe for your type of sport, and the best office chair are examples.

Some other personal touches that Blasi deploys: Wearing name tags and alerting customers with email messages when their favorite variety is available. This is unique at the farmers market. Take a fresh look at your green product and avoid the clichés of green color theme, planet earth images, or brand logo that has sprouted flowers or leaves. Look at other industry segments for techniques that you can import.

3. Create Desire Through Scarcity

Given the overabundance of products, many consumers are indifferent. To move product, markdowns are often required, reducing profitability.

Extra inventory is costly to manufacture, transport and store. This extra inventory is expensive for both the company and the environment.

In contrast, there is the beloved corn stand. Part of the consumer psychology that is activated by the corn stand is the scarcity principle. Robert Cialdini, in his classic book "Influence: The Art of Persuasion," explains that "opportunities seem more valuable to us when their availability is limited."

Markdowns once triggered this scarcity principle, but consumers are now trained to expect markdowns at the end of season. Or markdowns are so plentiful and products are so similar, that consumers switch brands to cherry-pick those that are on sale.

The new method employed by the corn-selling champ leverages consistency in price but scarcity of product. This sense of scarcity is established by limited hours of availability, limited corn season and limited amount of product that may sell out.

Of course, a differentiated product is required or no one will care.

Some ideas:

• "Hope springs eternal" is the standard merchant mindset. A little pessimism may be in order if your company's forecasts leave you with excess product.

 

• The farmer's market is the original pop-up store. Think about how to duplicate a temporary venue for your channel.

• A limited time offer may be seasonal products or a special run that your company was lucky enough to secure. It is a great way to test new concepts without a big commitment. Samuel Adams is well known for its seasonal beers. Target has been successful at promoting fashion by high-end designers at low-end prices that typically sell-out in days.

After 10 minutes in line, I reach Blasi and request six ears. As he hands me my corn, the corn-selling champ smiles broadly and says, "See you next week."

_{Photo CC-licensed by Darwin Bell.}