Ceres Gardening

Ceres Gardening Company Case Study

1. How has the company grown? What is its basic strategy + how has it evolved? What have been the key factors in the company's growth?

The growth of the company has been fueled by the market demand growth in organic products. Ceres increased their revenues by over 75% in just five years, while growing profits by over 25% (based on Exhibits 2, 3 & 4).

Ceres’s basic strategy started with its founder, Jonathan Wydown, to promote sustainable organic gardens and landscapes to environmentally conscious consumers. Mr. Wydown has been a proponent of soil preservation, biodiversity, and natural fertilizers and pest control. Mr. Wydown was confident that the same principles behind …show more content…

What should Ceres’ strategic plan be, given the trends in the organic gardening market?

A move forward strategy is a renewed focus on market penetration and diversification of product portfolio. As the CMO, Annette O’Connell reported, “Growth in organic gardening products is strong, and the trends should support long term growth.”

Market Penetration – capitalize on the movement from wholesale organic farming to weekend home gardeners and food service industries. While Ceres can continue to cement their market share in organic farming, the weekend gardener and food industry market are prime market niches. To reach these markets, Ceres has to diversify its product portfolio.

Product Portfolio Diversification - Ceres’ has to consider diversifying its product portfolio from materials (i.e. seeds, samplings, 1-year-old fruit trees, etc.) to services and solutions to help organic farmers, food service industries, and weekend gardeners on the “how to’s” of organic gardening. You not only sell the seeds but also help the consumers manage the gardening process thus providing Ceres a “market differentiator” as a one-stop consumer experience.

3. How would you evaluate Ceres’ marketing efforts? Should the Ceres program be expanded? Why or why not?

The GetCeres™ Program is a sound marketing plan but can be fraught with challenges if not managed effectively. The main purpose of the program is to