High Hopes at Miracle-Gro in The Medical Marijuana Field

Dana Mattioli authored High Hopes at Miracle-Gro in Medical Marijuana Field in a published WSJ.com article of June 14, 2011. The article describes a new exploration venue undertaken by Scotts Miracle-Gro Co., to expand its market into the medical marijuana field. The company aims to increase its revenues by diversifying its target market as a result of the recent legalization of medical marijuana in several states.

The main characters in this article include Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. who is venturing into the medical marijuana field with Miracle-Gro products. Centennial Seed Co. and General Cannabis Inc. are also mentioned as companies that support the medical marijuana field. These new niche marketing strategies are supported with data by See Change Strategy LLC’s and Rollitup.org.

According to Jim Hagedorn, Scotts Chief Executive, the company is exploring medical marijuana as a potential market “to help boost sales” (Mattioli, 2011). Scotts’ products are primarily sold at Home Depot, Lowe’s Co., and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Due to the recent economic downturn, these three retailers have stalled opening new stores due to sluggish sales. As such, Scotts’ sales and resulting revenues have declined, and the company has been investigating new target markets to build up their sales. Scotts hopes that their entry into the medical marijuana market, along with other niche markets, will promote growth.

To ensure successful marketing of Scotts’ products in the new target market, the company should complete a SWOT (Strengths, weaknesses, opportunity, threat) analysis. The analysis’ results will determine the company’s marketing strategy, specifically its way of differentiating itself in this market by focusing on niche segmentation. S...

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...eting campaign. As delineated in Kotler and Keller (2009), page 323, the public relations department will have to engage in press relations, product publicity, corporate communication, lobbying, and counseling, to ensure a successful campaign.

This article describes an innovative marketing strategy by Scotts Miracle-Gro to venture into uncharted territory of the medical marijuana market. Although the market is new and controversial, an appropriate marketing campaign will help the company grow and prosper in this niche venue.

Works Cited

Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2009). A framework for marketing management: Integrated with PharmaSim. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Mattioli, D., (2011, June 14. High Hopes at Miracle-Gro in Medical Marijuana Field. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304665904576383832249741032.html