Producer segmentation pilot: dynamic alignment

Summary

Traditionally the meat and livestock industry has used pragmatic criteria to group producers, such as species, property size and location. But even when businesses are similar in all of these dimensions, the decisions they make, and the way they relate to MLA and other industry bodies, can be quite different. R&D adoption programs and communication approaches that receive strong response from one property may be completely ignored by neighbouring businesses.
This study emerges from the need to understand why this occurs. It focuses on the behavioural drivers impacting the way producers operate. The outcome of the study is a behavioural-based segmentation that can be used as a base for developing appropriate engagement strategies to align with different ‘types’ of producers. The segmentation is derived from producer research, filtered through an established lens for understanding and responding to the key differences in groups of stakeholders and customers: the Dynamic Alignment strategy framework.
During 2009-10 the Dynamic Alignment framework was used within MLA to interpret the engagement needs of some of the larger producer and processor members. Late in 2010 it was recognised that this same approach could provide insight into engagement with MLA’s broad producer base, particularly in relation to R&D communication and adoption strategies and the different ways that producers respond to MLA’s initiatives.
To apply this approach, research was conducted on the producer base in two stages. Firstly, a number of Alignment questions were included in the regular KPI survey conducted for MLA by Axiom Research in August 2010(which included 584 producer interviews). The results were analysed and used to draft an initial segmentation. This was followed up with more in-depth interviews with 52 of the respondents. These allowed the initial segmentation to be refined, and the characteristics of the different segments to be explored more fully. The objectives of the research were: to identify the key producer behavioural segments; to gain an initial perspective on their size; and to understand the major drivers in each segment that impacted MLA’s engagement.