Boosting brand loyalty for BASF in a price-centric market

When you go to the store, do you buy Tylenol or the generic version? Like many companies, BASF Professional Vegetation Management (ProVM) – a manufacturer of chemistries used in land management – faces generic competition. But unlike many businesses, BASF ProVM chose to turn this challenge into an opportunity to develop a loyalty program for customers through the Quality Vegetation Management™ (QVM) program.

The first step, BASF recognized, was to gather input from its customers. Padilla Speer Beardsley helped organize three moderated "roundtable" meetings to garner feedback from important customer stakeholders. The meetings allowed participants to openly and honestly discuss the elements of such a program and how it should be structured.

As a result of the feedback from customers and many months of planning, Padilla helped BASF roll out the QVM Certified Applicator program at a fun, educational kick-off event. Response among industry applicators was positive from the start, and an annual "check in" with the roundtable members helped keep the program fresh for the more than 50 participants.

The multi-year program was successful in maintaining sales of BASF products, even in a market where generic products can provide significant cost-savings.