A family business with a clear vision
Since 1982, Farm Food has been developing natural dog food. What started from the belief that dogs need nutrition that matches their natural needs has grown into a well-established name in the dog food industry.
The name Farm Food reflects the company's origins. Founder Gerrit de Weerd was inspired by life on the farm, where dogs naturally had a varied diet. Based on this idea, he developed nutrition that meets the natural needs of dogs.
Within the marketing team, a wide variety of projects are managed every day, from content creation and website updates to trade fair preparations and sponsorship activities.
"We plan virtually everything related to marketing in vPlan, from brainstorming sessions and printed materials to email campaigns, website updates, social media and events."
The challenge: no central overview
Before switching to vPlan, the Farm Food team used a different planning tool. However, the system was not well suited to the way the marketing team worked together, resulting in a lack of visibility and overview.
Marketing Coordinator Marnique Assink had experience with several planning tools from previous roles, including vPlan, and quickly realised that something was missing.
"What I missed most was visibility into what was happening. Almost every task had its own separate board, which meant you had less insight into what everyone was working on, what had been completed and what was still outstanding."
"When several colleagues worked on the same project, information became fragmented across different tasks. I couldn't easily see who had done what. That wasn't necessarily due to the software itself, but rather the way it had been set up."
Looking for a way of working that fits better
As the existing way of working became increasingly unsuited to the team's needs, they began looking for an alternative.
"I already knew vPlan from a previous role. What immediately appealed to me was its visual way of working. It was much better suited to the way I'm used to organising projects and day-to-day work. After comparing several options, we decided to switch to vPlan."
One environment for all marketing activities
Today, the marketing team works across multiple planning boards, each with its own purpose. This keeps everything organised while allowing everyone to work from the same central environment.
Marketing planning as the central foundation
The main marketing board forms the foundation of the planning. This is where day-to-day activities such as social media, photography, email marketing and printed materials are planned. Templates have been created for each type of activity, ensuring recurring work is always carried out using the same process.
"For social media, for example, we use templates with all the steps already in place, from idea and concept through to review, revisions and finally planning the content."
Everyone on the team works from the same planning, but in the way that best suits their role and preferences. Some colleagues mainly use the calendar view, while others prefer working in the Kanban view or list view.
"That's exactly what makes it so useful. Everyone can work in the way that suits them best, while we're all looking at the same planning."
Greater control over website management
In addition to the day-to-day marketing planning, Farm Food uses a separate planning board for website management. All website pages are tracked here and move through different stages, from review and updates to publication.
By recording each page as a card in vPlan, the team always has visibility of which pages have been updated, which still require attention, and when each page was last reviewed.
"If legislation or regulations change, we can immediately see which pages need to be reviewed again."
Structure in trade fairs and events
Farm Food uses a separate planning board for trade fair and event planning. As events follow a very different process from regular marketing activities, a dedicated setup proved essential.
"Trade fairs have a very specific process, from preparation and communication to set-up, production and dismantling. By creating a separate board for them, we gained much more structure."
Within the board, events are tracked step by step. Using different stages and colour coding, the team can see at a glance where each trade fair or event is in the process and which actions are still outstanding.
Clear oversight of sponsorship activities
Sponsorship requests also have their own dedicated place in vPlan. Once a request has been approved, it is added to a separate planning board. This makes it easy to see which requests are active, which actions are still outstanding, and where follow-up is required.
By combining these different planning boards, Farm Food has created one central working environment where both day-to-day marketing tasks and larger projects come together in a clear and organised way.
Always clear visibility of progress
While some organisations focus primarily on capacity planning, Farm Food's priority is maintaining a clear overview of progress.
"For us, the biggest benefit is visibility. We can see exactly what we're working on, what has already been completed and what still needs to be done."
Knowledge sharing also plays an important role. Files, links and project information are stored centrally, making it easy to hand over work whenever needed.
"If someone is away, we can always see what has been done. That gives us peace of mind," says Marnique.
Personal contact makes the difference
In addition to the software itself, Farm Food particularly values its collaboration with vPlan.
"The contact is approachable and personal. If something comes up, we can respond quickly. With a large software provider, there's often much more distance. At vPlan, you have direct contact with people who genuinely think along with you."
Greater control over marketing planning
With vPlan, Farm Food now has one central environment where all marketing activities come together. From website management to events, and from social media content to sponsorship projects, the team works from the same information and always has clear visibility of progress.
"The biggest advantage? We know exactly what we're working on, what has been completed and what is still on the planning. That overview really makes all the difference."
