John Deere Day at UI
Wallas Wiggins speaks to the SI and Marketing Academies
It was my pleasure to listen to Mr. Wallas Wiggins, Manager of Corporate Strategy at John Deere on September 6. As a much appreciated respite from our normal class schedule, we had the opportunity to listen to Mr. Wiggins speak about John Deere’s strategic process as well as their current efforts in growing their global businesses.
While there were certainly some great takeaways for my fellow students in the Strategic Innovation track as well as those in Marketing, what really stood out to me was the importance and omnipresence of the John Deere brand itself in all they do. I’ve always heard of the incredible brand loyalty that customers have for John Deere, as I grew up in the Midwest myself; however, just from listening to Mr. Wiggins talk, it was easy to see that they never take this for granted.
Brand identity and loyalty are not something that can be maintained through dumb luck. It takes a genuine effort on behalf of the company to truly understand their customers and their needs. This type of commitment to customers can be seen through John Deere’s mission of being “committed to those who are linked to the land,” which involves designing products from the ground up in order to meet the needs of specific customers. But it can also be gleaned in the passion with which employees like Mr. Wiggins discuss what they do. As someone who has never considered a career with John Deere, I can honestly say that I admire how they do business.
