Alejandra Chavez Green | B2B People Top Digital Marketers

Alejandra Chavez Green

By By Mary E. Morrison

June 11, 2012 - 6:01 am EDT

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Different companies, same challenges

Title: Portfolio marketing leader

Company: Dow AgroSciences

Years in current job Less than 1

For Alejandra Chavez Green, portfolio marketing leader at Dow AgroSciences, effective digital marketing is all about staying top-of-mind with the target audience.

To do that, the company aims to make life easier for its customers and prospects, giving them tools such as a tablet app designed for crop consultants in the midsouth U.S.

The Field Ref app, which Dow loaded onto 170 iPads and distributed to rice farmers and consultants, contained extensive content in an easy-to-use format—information that users would otherwise have had to carry around in bulging binders, Chavez Green said. “Their feedback was that it made their jobs faster, and easier and more efficient,” she said. The marketer worked with agency Bader Rutter & Associates, Brookfield, Wis., on the initiative.

Dow AgroSciences was careful to train recipients on how to use the tablets and explain how the app could help them because, while some were already iPad users, others had never seen or used the device. “We didn't just send it in the mail,” she said.

One key benefit, she said, was that the devices allowed recipients to access and use the information without an Internet connection—an important point for crop consultants who are sometimes in remote parts of the country.

Based on the positive response to the app, the company is now looking at using similar apps for other crop segments it serves. It's also considering adding new analytics and expanding content.

“Field Ref was just the beginning,” Chavez Green said.

Dow AgroSciences is forging ahead with other digital efforts. It recently installed virtual kiosks in targeted retail locations and has been focused on optimizing the user experience on its mobile-friendly websites. The company is also preparing to outfit its entire sales force with iPads.

“The agricultural industry is changing every day, so we have to anticipate their needs and create a new experience without giving up on our traditional marketing,” Chavez Green said.