In the late '90s, Colombian flower growers began oversaturating the U.S. market, making it harder for American flower growers to compete. Normally, the U.S. DOJ would have
slapped the Colombian government with a fine, but in this case, an alternative solution took root. A coalition of U.S. and Colombian flower growers, known as the Flower Promotion
Organization (FPO), was created to promote fresh cut flower sales in the U.S.
Research Seeds Strategy
Among the agencies competing for this sweet-smelling account was Porter Novelli DC - which surmised, through pre-existing and omnibus research, that flowers were predominately
purchased as gifts in the U.S., and tended to be most heavily promoted during holidays. The PN team had a hunch that people who bought flowers for themselves were more
likely to become repeat customers - and that a little nudge could make this niche blossom.
"We thought if we created a campaign encouraging existing flower purchasers to buy more frequently for themselves, that even a small increase in purchasing among that group
would dramatically increase sales," says Stephen McCauley, senior VP in the agency's food, beverage and nutrition division. Drawing data from its proprietary lifestyle database
(which has tracked 2,500 consumers since 1995), PN also determined that most consumers don't think about buying flowers routinely - namely because they don't know how to select
them, use them or care for them.
Porter Novelli won the FPO account in March 2000 and began cultivating the campaign theme, "Flowers. Alive With Possibilities." The idea was to promote fresh cut flowers not
so much as a gift item, but as a versatile and inexpensive home decorating accessory. Using nationwide focus groups as testing grounds, the agency introduced its target market
(women, ages 25-54) to mock materials touting new home decorating themes involving flowers. "For instance, how to use just a few stems for window dressing, or as natural air
freshener in your bathroom," McCauley says. "We really played up the double entendre in the theme."
Growing Interest
While nouveau conventional wisdom dictates that PR should, in most cases, preclude advertising in the branding equation, PN took the opposite approach and launched a series of
print and broadcast ads for FPO in five test markets (Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Philly and San Diego). "The fact is, we needed to guarantee reach and frequency really fast,"
McCauley says. "We couldn't do that with PR alone. We couldn't guarantee that every editor in every market would be writing about this right away."
To add dimension to the ad blitz, however, PN also created collateral materials that retailers could distribute to their customers, offering tips on flower usage, selection
and handling. On the PR side, the account team created a Web site (http://www.flowerpossibilities.com) reiterating similar
content ideas. Visitors to the site can learn about how to use flowers to hide a crack in the bedroom drywall, or to brighten up an otherwise drab office space. An online flower
encyclopedia is in the works.
In the fall of 2000, PN engineered a road show that took FPO co-presidents Phillip Nowers and William Carlson to various FTD association meetings, where they urged wire
services to get involved with campaign. "Having their support will make all the difference because after the funding for this campaign is over, we'll look to the rest of the
industry to keep the concept alive," McCauley says.
Fresh Cut Results, New Seedlings
At this point, the campaign is in mid-stream (it's set to run through June 2002), but buds are already forming in the results department. Web traffic tripled after the first
month of the campaign, even though there was no advertising or PR activity in December 2000 and January 2001. And independent research indicates that while the campaign has not
attracted more buyers into the fresh-cut flower arena, the frequency with which pre-existing female buyers are buying for themselves in the test markets is up 65% - whereas no
detectable changes in sales have been logged in control markets.
FPO's major PR push, however, is set to launch this spring, when the team will blitz feature editors and morning show producers with an artfully-arranged media kit and matte
release. Also on the schedule: a series of "influencer" events in local markets to get retail florists excited about using the campaign's POP materials, bill stuffers and customer
postcards.
Meanwhile, the organization has secured as a spokeswoman Laurie Ward, author of the home décor book, Use What You Have Decorating. Ward will conduct live demos and a
satellite media tour from the Philadelphia Flower Show in early March (FPO is a sponsor and will have a booth).
"She's not a flower person, which breaks the rules of everything that's been done before in the flower world," McCauley says. "We don't want to intimidate people with the
Martha Stewart approach. We want these ideas to be inspirational, not aspirational. Her approach is, 'Okay, I have a travel mug and a bunch of tulips I bought on the street for
five bucks. What can I do?'"
(McCauley, 202/973-3615)
All in the Timing
Floral promo campaigns traditionally focus on gift-giving occasions such as Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Easter and winter holidays. Which is why Porter Novelli has
intentionally activated the FPO campaign during periods when other flower campaigns are dark. "This allows us to ride the crest of activity that other big, big floral advertisers
have put their money into," says Stephen McCauley, senior VP at the agency. "We fill the gaps when other campaigns are inactive." McCauley says. The campaign's fall advertising
and PR push, for example, ran from August through October, but stopped before Thanksgiving. It's now dormant through Valentine's Day, but will resume in late February.
FPO Campaign Stats
Time frame: 30 months
(March 2000 - June 2002)
Budget: $11 million - with 80% earmarked for advertising, 15% for PR and 5% for POP.
Key Players (FPO): Phillip Nowers, FPO co-president representing the Colombia Flower Council; William Carlson, FPO co-president representing the Michigan-based U.S.
Floral Trade Council
Key Players (Porter Novelli PR): Stephen McCauley, SVP; Maureen Varnon, account supervisor; Leslie Ballen, account supervisor; Emily Kleinman, assistant AE
Key Players (Porter Novelli advertising): Jim Kingsley, EVP; Liz Fitzgerald, creative director; Allyson Hummel, art director; Marie Manning, account supervisor.
Main mode of client communication/approval: A password-protected extranet, on which FPO board members can review and approve messaging strategy, document drafts and art
comps.