A coffee table book on the history of farm equipment sounds more like a bad holiday gift than a brilliant corporate communications tool. But Genuine Value, the story of John
Deere, became just that for communicators at Deere & Co.
Employees tend to stay with the company -- the fifth oldest publicly traded corporation in America -- throughout their careers, and by 1999, one third to one half of Deere's
workforce was projected to retire within a decade. The corporate communications team received a mandate from senior management to create tools for preserving the company's
heritage for new employees. At the same time, Deere & Co. was looking for ways to change customers' and investors' perceptions of the company as an old-economy farm equipment
manufacturer. The John Deere brand was synonymous with quality farm equipment, but half the company's business stemmed from its construction, lawn-and-grounds, credit, healthcare,
parts, power systems and special technologies divisions.
Corporate communicators came up with a plan to produce a coffee table book that would capture "the John Deere journey" and meet both communications goals.
Writing the Book on Communications
The team would have to create a product that simultaneously addressed Deere employees, retirees, customers, investors, dealers and partners, not to mention consumers who might
have only passing knowledge of the company. Plus, the book would have to accomplish two competing goals: preserving the company's heritage for future employees and retooling the
company's image for external stakeholders. The end objective: to be more than a simple chronicle of history and to establish the impact Deere has had on agriculture, manufacturing
and world history.
After convincing relatively staid senior management that the approach would work -- and that the book, instead of straying from traditional Deere values, would be built upon
them -- the communications and design team set to work with an exhaustive examination of John Deere policies, vision statements, speeches and other historical documents to uncover
the company's ideals. The initial list included 37 values, and the team honed it to a more easily manageable number with the help of employee focus groups and senior management
input. The company eventually settled on four: quality, innovation, integrity and commitment.
Deere hired designer Michael McMillan (whose portfolio includes Michael Jordan's photo-biography Rare Air) and began work pairing historical photos and illustrations from the
Deere archives with thought-provoking material based on the four core values.
In the meantime, corporate communicators also had to market the book to their various stakeholder audiences. Because the cost of producing the book soared past the $1 million
mark, the team made the choice not to give it to every employee, but to offer it for sale. The team contracted with outside companies to take and fulfill orders for the book and
created a direct mail campaign (translated into six languages) for dealers and employees worldwide. It also launched an e-commerce site, http://www.genuinevalue.com, for electronic orders.
The book was unveiled at the John Deere Classic PGA Golf Tournament. Following a press conference hosted by Deere CEO Hans Becherer, the direct mailing was sent to employees,
retirees, dealers and suppliers. A publicity campaign was launched in November 2000 to boost the book's visibility with customers and the rural public. Plus, order forms were
inserted in dozens of farm and rural magazines and stockholder and credit mailings.
Results
The book has generated tremendous feedback from internal and external stakeholders. One John Deere division purchased 800 of the books to give to its prized customers as
loyalty-building tools. The recruiting division uses the book to help land new hires and build a bond with student interns. And dealers are using the book in marketing incentive
programs.
Quantitatively, more than 40,000 copies of the book have been sold at a price of $34.50 for employees, suppliers and dealers, and about twice as much at retail. Qualitatively,
stakeholders have confirmed that the book met its goals. One supplier told the communications team, "I am glad to see John Deere sticking to its roots. I can safely say that this
is one of the best pieces of corporate communications I have ever seen." And a customer was awed by the scope of the company he had known only as an equipment manufacturer: "The
information that I acquired from the book has made me understand your corporation's views a lot better. I used to think John Deere was about farm and construction equipment."
(Contact: John Gerstner, 309/765-4105, [email protected])
Campaign Stats
Timeframe: 2000
Costs: $1.4 million (offset by revenue from book)
Genuine Value Team: Tim Beck, Production Manager; Michael McMillan, Art Director; Megan Kearney, Designer; Kathy Nelson; Administrative Assistant; Curt Linke, Management
Sponsor; John Gerstner, Editor & Creative Director
Employee Response: Employees loved Genuine Value and felt more strongly tied to the company after reading it: "You have done this company a great service putting our history
together, not only for us employees, but for our families, especially our grandchildren," wrote one. Another commented, "This book is not only well-written with many historical
facts, but also helps to reinforce my continued association with a GREAT company. WELL DONE on the book."