 Angela Treadwell-Palmer |
As I walked my 15th MANTS (Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show), I must admit, other than seeing lots of familiar faces and getting lots of hugs from former co-workers, not much has changed. Sure, I noticed a few cool new plants and begged the salespeople for a sample to take home for my garden, but did I see anything revolutionary? Not really.
It’s mostly the same plants from year to year. I am always in search of clever marketing campaigns, yet I never find them. What is it I’m looking for? What will it take to impress me at this point in my career? I’m a dreamer, so I’m always hoping someone will come up with something super-creative. I can’t wait for the day when someone in this industry rocks everyone’s world with a clever, eye-catching, relevant (dare I say “real”) way to market plants.
I want to be that person! The only problem is my company, as fabulous as it is, isn’t big enough to make a difference. We need a big player, a mac-daddy if you will, to take this beast by the horns and show this industry what real marketing is. Anyone game?
I get so excited to see what everyone has to offer, but by the end of the first day I’m depressed and disappointed because nothing impressed me, and then it’s all over. It’s a bit of a letdown, to say the least.
Brand Identity—Really?
I see companies spending lots and lots of hard-earned money on everything from sponsoring high-end sporting events to investing in colored pots and high-dollar marketing materials. Colored pots … hmmm. Why colored pots? Do they think consumers look for a signature-colored pot over a basic black one? Like they would a Coke in the signature bottle shape versus a generic cola? Is Coke a living thing?
Will they buy a hydrangea just because it’s in a blue pot? Or will they buy a hydrangea because it blooms and re-blooms like mad?
I could drive myself insane thinking about all of this. I get so irked and confused because I don’t think they know why they’re doing these things. I actually asked why once, and no one could come up with an answer other than, “It’s the thing to do, and we NEED to brand our plants.”
Do we? Really? Do people care what brand they’re buying, or do they buy the healthiest plant they see? Isn’t garden center shopping much like shopping for produce in the grocery store? Can living things be branded?
Unless it’s a Vidalia onion, which is a very special onion from a very special region in Georgia, I’m thinking consumers buy the freshest-looking, and sometimes the most-attractive produce they can find. They may choose organic over conventionally grown, but I really don’t think they search through the strawberry containers looking for Driscoll’s versus other brands. Whichever strawberries look the reddest and juiciest on that day are picked for consumption.
That being said, do consumers want flashy, brightly colored marketing materials, or would they rather have a healthy, well-grown plant with tons of information on what it is, where to plant it and how to grow it?
Isn’t the plant the product? Plants are not fully enclosed in packaging like a box of crackers. Therefore, it’s the actual plant – the part that sticks out of the pot – that entices people to buy. What exactly are they supposed to do with that pretty pot when they get home? I bet it goes right in the trash. That’s a bit wasteful, don’t you think?
Marketing Musts
And don’t get me started on those experts that preach about not needing to sell to Gen X and Y or, better yet, those who say focus on the 40-plus crowd.
I actually heard a marketing “guru” say focusing on Gen X and Y customers is a waste of time because they have no houses and they have no money. Bull puckey, bull puckey!
Hear me now and believe me later (remember when Dana Carvey was Hans on Saturday Night Live?), if you don’t change your ways and start marketing to the “I” (as in iPhone, iPod) generation, you will be out of business in the near future.
I’m here to pump [clap] you up!
The 40-plus crowd is already your target audience. Call me crazy, but I am that person, so I might know a little something about that. Most of us understand garden centers and know what to do when they walk into one. Younger folks have no idea what to do, and most of them know nothing about gardening, but they want to learn, in a bad way, AND in their own way.
If you’re not willing to change your selling and marketing style to entice the touch screen, app-using, “unsocial” group that will make up the marketplace in just a few years, then you have no idea what’s going on. We’re talking about a generation that has been taught to be social in a completely different way. It’s virtual-social, imprinted by technology.
The Unsocial Social Generation
Oh, sure, they can talk to hundreds of people on Facebook and Twitter, but do they have as many face-to-face or “real” conversations as older folks? Heck no. Sociologists are worried – really worried – that people are lonely these days. They have very few face-to-face conversations – it’s all electronic, virtual communications.
Dr. Larry Rose, a professor of psychology at California State University and author of “Rewired: Understanding the iGeneration and the Way They Learn” said, “The newest generation, unlike their older peers, will expect an instant response from everyone they communicate with, and won’t have the patience for anything less.”
Is this bad? The jury is out on that, but let me tell you this – if your garden center doesn’t resemble an Apple store – or offer so much educational information that they know they can’t fail – you will have lost them as a customer. If your garden center isn’t chock-full of how-to information and your Web site isn’t bursting at the seams with everything they need to garden successfully, they’ll go somewhere else.
|
