COMPANY: Conard-Pyle Co.
PR AGENCY: Garden Media Group
TIMEFRAME: March-May 2005
BUDGET: Less than $30,000
Plant grower Conard-Pyle Co. in West Grove, Pa., recently bred a new rose, the "Elle." It's bug-resistant, it's pretty and it smells good. So what?
Enter Susan McCoy, owner of the Garden Media Group (Chadd's Ford, Pa.), a seven-person PR shop that earlier this year mounted a high-profile event in New York City to
give the new bloom its public debut. It was an event that almost didn't happen, but ultimately came off smelling like, well, a rose.
The PR players had secured the prestigious Baccarat Studio on Madison Avenue as the event site; invitations were sent out, and at least 40 horticultural movers and
shakers were on tap, just as the client had requested.
However, two weeks before the event, the client decided 80 attendees would be better than 40; Garden Media Group's response offers a lesson in how to fill a room.
The first round of invitees had included gardening editors from top-tier publications like House & Garden, Garden Design and the New York Times. As an
agricultural-specialty shop, Garden Media Group was able to dig deep into its Rolodexes for the second round, inviting landscape designers, horticulturalists, botanical garden
managers, senior executives from the American Rose Society and even the French media. "We don't just know the people," McCoy says. "We know the people who know the
people."
The client was pleased that the agency had put so many fannies in the seats. What's more, Conard-Pyle gave a hardy thumbs-up to the trappings that had been put in place, all of
which supported the basic brand message of elegance and flair.
"We wanted to send the message that there is a lot of prestige around this specific rose variety," says Steve Hutton, president-CEO of Conard-Pyle. "Its roots are in France,
so with the Baccarat connection and the French wine that was served at the reception, it reinforced that connection."
Baccarat rented out the space for free, in exchange for the lavish flower displays the PR event left behind -- just in time for Mother's Day. The vino was a gift from France
while the Champagne was bought, as was the food, which included caviar, crab cakes and passed finger foods.
There were a few bumps in the road, of course. "Here we are, having an event in the middle of May, at a time when the key garden writers are all outdoors doing photo shoots and
writing stories. Many of then were out on location," McCoy says. In this case, experience saved the day; the PR firm has a longstanding history with many of the top writers, "and
they know that when we invite them to something, it is going to be something worth coming to," she says.
Still, the "Elle" rose spring event could have gone either way.
Besides the many said challenges - wrong month, last-minute invitations - a bigger issue loomed: the larger magazines already had covered the rose in June 2004, when "Elle" won
a major floral-society award. This new campaign would constitute a second round of feature coverage in a relatively short period, which is notoriously hard to nail down with
reporters et al.
The PR team, therefore, targeted a slightly different set of publications. In addition to the glossies, invitations also went out to the dailies, many of which had not noted
the rose in its first appearance.
The strategy paid off, landing stories in such papers as the Trenton Times and the Philadelphia Enquirer along with a syndicated piece in the Gannett
papers. Other horticulture trades, including Country Folks Grower, Green Profit and American Rose, also picked up the story.
Garden Media Group, meanwhile, leveraged the event by sending top-notch editors a CD (along with follow-up press kits) filled with photos from the gathering.
The bottom line? Good media, solid branding and one very happy client. "For the image that was conveyed and the impressions that were made," Hutton says, "it was a very cost-
effective and very successful event."
Contacts: Susan McCoy, 610.388.9330, [email protected]; Steve Hutton, 610.869.8011, [email protected]
Have you ignored flowers as a potential PR market? Think again. There's gold in those stems:
- The Society of American Florists pegged the flower business at $19.5 billion in 2004.
- There's something for every PR expertise: Consumers shop at more than 22,000 retail stores, while some 16,000 nurseries and 1,000 wholesalers also fill the need.
- Flowers have a predictable PR cycle, with the vast majority of buds a-blooming on Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Secretary's Day, Easter and the December holiday season.
- A starting point: PR pros can get industry guidance from the American Floral Marketing Council, the promotions arm of the Society of American Florists.
Make Sure You Gild The Lily, Er, The Rose
Got snooty friends coming over? Serve them the good stuff. Case in point: The launch of the "Elle" rose in New York City's oh-so-elegant Baccarat Studio. With editors and
writers coming from the top gardening magazines and a guest list that included the French consul, the choice of location was not haphazard.
"Everything has to feed into what your target market expects and how they perceive you," says Susan McCoy, owner of the Garden Media Group. "Your image has to match in
everything you do."
If the elite are to be enticed, it takes more than a swank location; it takes persistence. "Even the day before the party, we sent out notes that said, 'Looking forward to
seeing you tomorrow,' even to people who hadn't said they were coming," McCoy says. 'These are very busy people, and you always have competing interests. You want to make sure
that at the end of the day you are at least in the top three of things they want to get done."
And don't forget that personal touch. "We sent out a lot of invitations (addressed) with just labels, which I hate," McCoy says. "But for really important people, I addressed
the envelope myself and included a personal note."