John Deere & Company Marketing Plan

Deere & Company also known as John Deere has manufactured agricultural machinery and equipment since 1837 and still markets itself as "a company dedicated to those linked to the land" (2011, Deere.com, p. 1). The company operates in the United States, Canada, Europe, Brazil, Russia, India and China. According to the Company's Annual Report and 10K, the company changed its business structure in 1958 when it incorporated in the State of Delaware under the registrant name of Deere & Company. The Corporate Headquarters for Deere & Company, Inc. are located at One John Deere Place, Moline, IL 61265, phone: 309-765-800. The Company's official web site is found at: http://www.deere.com.

Deere & Company is a publically held company, which currently has eleven members on the Board of Directors. There are fifteen Executives Officers elected or appointed by the Board of Directors. Executive Officers hold their office until the annual meeting of the Board of Directors following the meeting of stockholders in each year. Samuel Allen, the current CEO has held the position since June of 2009. Deere & Company's operations are categorically placed into three major business segments: Agriculture and Turf commonly referred to as Equipment Operations, Construction, Forestry, and Credit also known as Financial Services.

The new marketing team Hagar, Engelhardt, Nowak and Buskey will work for the Agricultural and Turf Operations, which is the division of Deere & Company sells combines. The product that this new team will market is the John Deere STS (Single Tine Separation) 70 series combine, which includes the 9570, 9670, 9770, and 9870. Each is gradually built on the smaller unit and provides the customer with additional storage capacity, ride, and usability enhancements. The STS Series is used to harvest grain, harvesting at 73 bushels per minute (bpm). The combine allows grain to be handled smoothly without clogging or bunching, delivering clean grain to the grain tank. The STS series combine serves the agriculture industry, in particular, grain farmers. There are about 960,000 persons that claim farming as their primary occupation and there are about two million farms in the United States. John Deere's competition in this field is diverse and includes companies such as: New Holland, Case, International, Kubota, Caterpillar, Class, Allis Chambers, Ford, and Massey Ferguson.

Prices for the STS Series range from the lowest model at $268,000 to the highest model at $365,000. Additional attachments can drive up the price of the combine to nearly $650,000. Deere & Company uses direct and relationship marketing by narrowing the marketing strategy to the agriculture target audience. Although the target audience may be smaller, the product could be custom-made directly to the needs of the prospective buyer. Direct marketing gives the company an opportunity to personally