TPI MARKET RESEARCH EXPLORES WHAT IT TAKES TO KEEP IT REAL!


By Casey Reynolds, PhD


As any business person knows, being able to position your product in the market is a vital component of success. Not only is it important to have a good product, but how do you tell the story about your product in a way that is attractive to potential customers? We are always quick to tell our story about what we want people to hear about turfgrass, but what is it that they want to hear? More importantly, what is it that causes decision-makers to see our product favorably? Te TPI Board of Trustees tasked our staff with this objective in late 2017 and after extensive research that concluded in late 2018, we will be incorporating the results into new TPI resources in 2019.


TPI staff created a call for proposals in early 2018 and distributed it to several well-known international public relations (PR) firms for review. Six companies submitted proposals to TPI which were reviewed and voted upon by the Board of Trustees at the 2018 International Education Conference & Field Day in Tucson, AZ. FleishmanHillard, a global PR firm and digital marketing agency based in St. Louis, MO, was selected as the winning proposal. Founded in 1946, FleishmanHillard is an internationally recognized PR firm that represents businesses including Barnes & Noble, Proctor & Gamble, General Motors, Energizer, EA Sports, and more. Tey have over 80 offices in 30 countries which means they can reach any audience, anytime, anywhere. Tis was certainly one of the contributing factors for TPI selecting FleishmanHillard, because it is important that whatever resources we create, we do it in a way that also serves our international members.


Tis work began in earnest as soon as the selection was made and included several different components. First, FleishmanHillard analyzed the current state of affairs in print and social media with regard to natural grass and artificial turf. TPI and its artificial turf competitors tout many of the same benefits including cost, environmental impact, durability and safety—many of consumers’ major concerns.


FleishmanHillard also analyzed the share of each group’s voice in digital media, as well as the positive, neutral, and negative perceptions by subject for natural grass and artificial turf. Tis analysis resulted in a clearer vision of the opportunities that TPI has to address consumer concerns when promoting natural grass. One of the key items that jumped out was that it appears natural grass fields are taken for granted. Tere are fewer arguments for natural grass, rather than against artificial turf, because natural grass is in the default position. Artificial turf often gets more coverage and has non-neutral articles simply because it is new and debated. TPI certainly has the opportunity to create a unified voice in promoting natural grass and can use this research to build upon its messaging. In addition to looking outward, this research also looked inward to TPI members. FleishmanHillard interviewed TPI members to determine what it is that they see as hurdles in communicating the value of natural grass. Tese members included producers, field builders, sales staff, and licensors of natural grass. One of the key findings that came out of these discussions was that artificial turf is not the only enemy. TPI members believe that another tall hurdle is a general lack of education and understanding of natural grass and its benefits.


Another key finding that came out of this research is that TPI members call their product many different things (See Figure 2). While this seems trivial, we later found that it does in fact lead to confusion in the marketplace.


20 TPI Turf News May/June 2019


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