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Case Study

Case Study: Re-introducing the Brand to the Agribusiness Industry   

Manat The Open Ground Of Agricultural Shop

Industry: Member association, agribusiness, brand positioning

Client: Canadian Association of Agri-Retailers (CAAR)

Client’s Challenge

The business environment is changing for Canadian agribusiness, and membership associations are being driven to change to accommodate members as agribusinesses increasingly begin to scrutinize which associations, they choose support. The Canadian Association of Agri-Retailers was grappling with change they had not encountered before – low event attendance and declining membership.

The retail industry continues to see increasing consolidation that impacts not only agribusiness, but those that serve businesses in agriculture – including membership associations. CAAR wanted to better understand the motivations of members – what they value from membership associations, how the CAAR brand compares to other organizations and what factors are considered when choosing which agribusiness associations to support.

Solution

In this first step to the re-introduction of the brand to the agribusiness industry, CAAR partnered with Prime46 to gather direct feedback from a group of current and lapsed members. Prime46 built a study framework to focus on the needs and expectations of members, the factors that drive association membership and event attendance, and brand perception.

The objective of the interviews with agribusiness leaders was to see the industry and membership association from their perspective. Taking this approach enabled the leaders to speak openly about the perceptions of membership associations, the economic pressures and time management issues they are dealing with.

Results

The intent of the interviews was to understand some of the larger challenges facing agribusiness retailers, determine which membership associations were valued most and gather feedback on the performance of CAAR, as well as how programs can be adapted to better suit the current needs of agribusinesses.

Through this study, the client was able to:

  • Understand the key factors that drive association membership decisions among current members and non-members
  • Utilize verbatim comments regarding programming, both positive and negative, to help CAAR make decisions for adapting programs to better align with the needs of members
  • Understand how the CAAR brand is perceived and positioned within the field of agribusiness

Successes

Prime46 was able to help CAAR collect the insights needed to establish a baseline understanding of the needs of agribusiness retail decision-makers when choosing which membership associations to support. This understanding has provided the necessary framework to make decisions about how to position their brand, align their programs and cater to the specific needs of the agribusiness retail industry.