What is Marketing?A BRIEF OVERVIEW FOR COOPERATIVE EXTENSION

Marketing DefinedThere are a host of definitions for marketing.

Here are two of the most widely accepted.

Marketing is… The process of planning and executing the

conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives.

- American Marketing Association Definition

Marketing DefinedMarketing is…

The process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, services, organizations, and events to create and maintain relationships that will satisfy individual and organizational objectives."

-Contemporary Marketing Wired (1998) by

Boone and Kurtz

Marketing is….A big umbrella! It may or may not include:• Analysis of programs, materials, customers

and the company itself• Media relations, public affairs, advertising• Stakeholder and funder relations• Strategically organizing all of the above, and

more, to create a cohesive, sustainable, effective route to success for Extension and its clients

The “4 Ps” of Marketing• Program Goods or services (programs) and their

benefits• Price Cost for goods or services, e.g. money, time,

travel• Place Location (place, Web), also time of

day/week/year• Promotion Activities designed to publicize

programs/servicesKnow the 4Ps for every program or service you

offer!

What We Have Done:Environmental Analysis

Environmental Scan

All 101 county centers collected data about state needs through public surveys, meetings and interviews. The data were combined and analyzed for common items and emerging trends. The findings were used to determine which programs would continue, be phased out or added, based on changing state needs.

Environmental Analysis : Response

Updated Goals • Sustainable, Profitable and Safe

Plant, Animal and Food Systems• Environmental Stewardship and

Natural Resources Management• Energy Conservation and

Alternatives• Emergency and Disaster

Preparedness 

Environmental Analysis > Response

Updated Goals• Workforce and Economic

Development• Community, Leader and Volunteer

Development 

Environmental Analysis > Response

Updated Goals • Healthy Weight and Chronic

Disease Prevention• Life Skills and Parenting• Youth and Adults Achieve

Educational Success

What We Have Done: Retail Customer Survey

• Capture data on name recognition, Extension topic interest, preferences for communication, time and location, and demographic information.

• Data pinpoint popular topics, target audiences and methods used to reach them.

Retail Customer Survey > Findings

• High interest in Extension topics• Lower retail name recognition than

expected• Preference for direct mail, TV, Web and

newspaper sources• High growth potential in urban areas,

with Hispanic audiences and for environmental topics

What We Have Done: Organizational Data Analysis

• ERS reporting software gathers quantitative and qualitative performance data.

• Program delivery and impacts data measure program efficiency and effectiveness.

• Program location data helps inform training and financial decisions for maximum efficiency.

Where Do We Go From Here?Know the Extension Mission and Slogan!

North Carolina Cooperative Extension partners with communities to deliver education and technology that enrich the lives, land and economy of North Carolina. 

Empowering People Providing Solutions

Where Do We Go From Here?

Know Your Customers!Retail – People seek informal education or technical assistance to better themselves, their families and their environment.

Businesses – Private or public organizations seek education or technical assistance for themselves or their employees.

Stakeholders – Federal, state, county, municipal, corporate and private funders, supporters and advocates

Where Do We Go From Here?Know Your OrganizationState benefits your competitors can’t claim.• Lack of profit motive makes us affordable• Unbiased, third-party research makes us

trustworthy• 101 locations are accessible, locally relevant• 93-year history shows commitment, long-

term value• High-touch, personal service

Where Do We Go From Here?Know Your Competition!• Some competitors represent partnership

opportunities; others do not. • All summer camps want campers. 4-H

may steer overflow to other camps or vice versa

• Jenny Craig and others use our research, but do not refer clients for weight loss

• Large commodity growers use our research, but may send in-house advisors to growers and producers

Where Do We Go From Here?

Promote between programs!• Our lives, our land and our economy are

interdependent.

Where Do We Go From Here? Promote between programs and counties!• “If you like this program, you’re bound to love

that program, too!” • Many residents live, work and travel across

counties. Know and promote border county programs.

• Residents talk to others. Customers often assume programs are similar between counties.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Offer Superb Customer Service

• Public or private, only organizations that successfully and consistently deliver the products and services they offer, time after time, will thrive.

• Tell customers what they will get, deliver it as promised and thank them for their business. Remember, we have three types of customers.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Sell What Makes Extension Different!Tell old and new clients that Extension

offers: • research-based education and practical

solutions to complex problems, • for free or at an affordable cost, • in their own community. We are unique and good at what we do.

Customers like winners; sell our strengths!

Action Steps

• Check out the marketing resources at www.cals.ncsu.edu/agcomm/resources.html

for ideas, guidance and other tools. • Learn more about who is interested in

your topic. Read the survey profiles in the Toolkit.

• Learn the revised mission, new goals and elevator pitches.

• Read the revised Style Manual.

Marketing Summary

Marketing encompasses everything from statistical analysis of your customers and programs to how you answer the phone and talk about your programs. Marketing helps your customers find what you have to offer. Because Extension exists to serve the people of North Carolina, marketing it part of how we meet our mission. It’s everyone’s job!