From the other side of the farm gate

Marketing, branding, and innovation all inspire conversations, curiosity, and understanding. I’ve found the key to success is to leave your own expectations and preconceptions at the door. As a new entrant farmer my approach has not changed.

Are we, Scotland’s crofters and farmers, as close to those who buy and consume our goods as we should be? Do we still talk and understand each other? Is our relationship as strong as it should be? Are we on a path that leads to a dismantling of our value and relevance to shoppers and consumers?

Is there another path? One enabling us to challenge the current narrative and build a direct relationship with shoppers and consumers. Would taking this fork in the path help us create new routes to the people that matter so much to our industry, firmly putting control back in the hands of crofting and farming across Scotland?

I feel very privileged to have built relationships with business leaders in organisations like Unilever, Nestle and Tesco. I’ve been fortunate to gain real and meaningful insight into the many approaches that lead to strong connections with the people that buy and consume products derived from farmers and crofters hard work. I’ve essentially been on the other side of the farm gate for most of my working life.

As a panellist at a recent event someone used the word guru in my description. I’m far from a guru, by any stretch of the imagination. I have, however, been very privileged in my pre-farming career to sit in (FMCG) marketing meetings and creative studios full of people more intelligent and inspirational than myself. I hope I’ve picked up some useful knowledge to apply to what we do as new famers, but which also proves helpful to others.

It seems to me as a new entrant, farming has relationship issues. Serious issues. To the point that those who should have been our lifelong partners and friends, left us. The Alans and Marys at 10 Acacia Terrace and millions of others from across Scotland and further afield. They’ve broken up with us, dumped us. We’ve been substituted by smooth talkers, masquerading as our supportive friend and voice. The large national and international retailers, the multinational brand owners, government departments and any number of NGOs.

We can’t blame them. For this to happen we must have been neglecting our partners, perhaps forgotten that relationships take work, a lot of work. At the same time, the smooth talkers’ marketing machines are working overtime. Tried and tested strategies followed by textbook execution.

Why would they do this? Because those groups and organisations understand whoever owns the relationship with the shopping and consuming nation, hold most, if not all, the power.

As a new entrant in the world of farming I would never profess to know what it means to be a multi-generational farmer or crofter. Or a first-generation farmer or crofter who’s spent most of their life on the land. I’ve spent a large part of my life on the other side of the farm gate listening to, understanding, and doing everything I can to help organisations connect with and influence the buying and consuming public – farming’s ‘ex’.

So, I see farming through very different eyes. At this point in time, it feels like we face a simple binary choice: re-connect directly with the shopper and consumer or don’t. If we don’t re-connect directly and find more meaningful ways to talk, I fear, we will be further marginalised because the reality is we’re an easy target.

There is time to change the outcome. We’re only separated, not yet divorced. We can use marketing as a tool for relationship counselling.

Farming and crofting have a truly unique advantage. Great at growing and nurturing stuff in any condition, even the most challenging. We now just need to start growing and nurturing our direct relationship with shoppers and consumers.

How can we do this? I hope the Scottish Farmer will let me have a few more column inches over the coming weeks and months to talk through some thoughts, ideas and methods which may inspire and intrigue a few of us to get together and start looking at strategies. And hopefully, to encourage farming’s ex to move back in.